Ottolenghi's Vegetarian Oven Ragù
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This ragù takes a little time and planning, but it’s worth it: it’s based on the “ultimate ragù” from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook “Flavour” (link to publisher’s page). Ottolenghi and his co-author Ixta Belfrage set out to create a vegan ragù that would also appeal to meat eaters. The big umami flavor comes from the mushrooms and lentils.
I have slightly simplified the original recipe, using much less miso paste and spices instead of harissa: both ingredients are clearly tasty in Ottolenghi’s original; reducing them a little makes it more like a classic ragù.
The long cooking time brings out all the flavors and the ragù has a very meaty consistency thanks to the beluga lentils and pearl barley. Because it takes so long, it’s not really worth making just two portions: The recipe below makes 6-8 servings, but they can be frozen and easily defrosted.
It is also vegan, except for the Parmesan used to serve it.
Recipe #
Ottolenghi’s vegetarian ragù with lentils and mushrooms
100 minutes
6-8 portions
Ingredients #
- 250 g carrots
- 300 g onions
- 300 g mushrooms (in my case king oyster mushrooms and shiitake)
- 50 g dried porcini mushrooms (not soaked!)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 30 g olive oil (original: 120 ml)
- 1 tin of tomatoes (400 g) (originally: diced egg tomatoes)
- 10 g miso paste (original: 70 g)
- 4 tablespoons tomato puree
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika powder (in the original: 40 g rose harissa)
- 90 ml soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1150 ml vegetable stock
- 160 g coconut cream or thick coconut milk
- 100 ml red wine
- 180 g dried beluga lentils (originally: green or brown lentils)
- 100 g pearl barley
- Salt and pepper
- as a side dish: 700 g pasta
- as garnish: 70 g Parmesan cheese
Directions #
- Peel and chop the carrots, onions, and garlic. Clean and wash the fresh mushrooms and chop them finely with the dried porcini. The easiest way to do this is to use a food processor.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C fan.
- In an ovenproof pan or roasting tin, fry the chopped vegetables in the olive oil for about 5 minutes.
- Add the canned tomatoes, miso paste, tomato puree, cayenne pepper, paprika powder, soy sauce, and cumin.
- Cover the casserole dish and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven after 40 minutes and pour in the stock, coconut cream, and red wine. Add the lentils and barley. Season with plenty of pepper. Stir briefly, then replace the lid and return to the oven for a further 40 minutes.
- Towards the end of the cooking time, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Serve the pasta with the ragù and Parmesan.
Carbon Footprint #
The recipe in this article is for 6-8 servings. For a fair comparison with the other recipes, I have converted the carbon footprint to two portions.
In total, two portions of ragù with pasta have an estimated carbon footprint of 1551g.
This ranks it number 29 out of 56 recipes published on the blog so far in terms of estimated carbon footprint.
The carbon footprint of the recipe is therefore slightly higher than the average of the other recipes here on the blog: At least 50% of the recipes cause less emissions, but it is not yet in the worst third of the recipes. 🤨When it comes to the individual ingredients, there are two in particular that are not part of the ragù as such: Parmesan cheese, which is added at the end of the meal, accounts for about 8% of the carbon footprint, but only 2% of the weight of the ingredients. The pasta, on the other hand, accounts for almost 20% of the ingredients but just under 10% of the carbon footprint.
| ingredient | carbon footprint per kg | carbon footprint (in g) for 2 servings | % of ingredients | % of CO2 emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrots | 0.1 | 7 | 6% | 0% |
| Onion | 0.2 | 17 | 8% | 1% |
| Mushrooms | 1.4 | 121 | 8% | 8% |
| Porcini mushrooms, dried | 1.4 | 20 | 1% | 1% |
| Garlic | 0.5 | 2 | 0% | 0% |
| Olive oil | 3.2 | 27 | 1% | 2% |
| Canned tomatoes | 1.8 | 206 | 10% | 13% |
| Miso paste | 0.2 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
| Tomato paste | 4.3 | 43 | 1% | 3% |
| Cayenne pepper | 1.1 | 0 | 0% | 0% |
| Paprika powder | 1.1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
| Soy sauce | 0.2 | 6 | 2% | 0% |
| Cumin | 1.1 | 3 | 0% | 0% |
| Vegetable broth | 1.4 | 447 | 29% | 29% |
| Coconut milk | 2.1 | 96 | 4% | 6% |
| Red wine | 1.0 | 29 | 3% | 2% |
| Lentils | 1.2 | 62 | 5% | 4% |
| Pearl barley | 0.6 | 17 | 3% | 1% |
| Salt | 1.4 | 3 | 0% | 0% |
| Pepper | 1.1 | 2 | 0% | 0% |
| Pasta | 0.7 | 140 | 18% | 9% |
| Parmesan cheese | 6.3 | 126 | 2% | 8% |
| Fry | 4 | 0% | ||
| Bake: 80min | 153 | 10% | ||
| Cooking pasta | 18 | 1% |
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