Bolognese is a meat sauce from the city of Bologna, Italy used specifically for lasagna or to dress the long ribbon like pasta, tagliatelle. It is a labour of love that takes about 3 1/2 hours. Elsewhere it is merely an indication a tomato sauce has some meat in it rather like a ragu.

Serves 6-8

¼ cup/60ml extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound/450g extra firm tofu cut into chunks

2 tablespoons/30ml Liquid Aminos

1 tablespoon /15ml Worcestershire Sauce

1 tablespoon/15ml olive oil

1/4 teaspoon/1ml balsamic vinegar

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery stalk, minced

1 carrot, minced, or shredded

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 28 ounce/794g can crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons/30ml tomato paste

¼ teaspoon/1ml cinnamon

½ teaspoon/2ml thyme

1 teaspoon/5ml oregano

small handful of flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

1 teaspoon/5ml salt

½ teaspoon/5ml black pepper

1/4 cup nutritional yeast, vegan Parmesan or Parmigiana Reggiano

Preheat oven to 400F/200C/Gas 6

Place tofu in a large zip-lock bag. Combine the aminos, worcestershire, olive oil, and balsamic. Pour over the tofu. Toss to make sure tofu is well covered. Let marinate for 20-30 minutes. Remove from marinade and dry well. Place on a lined sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes, tossing after 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Pulse in a food processor until it resembles minced/ground meat.

In a large saucepan, add extra-virgin olive oil on medium heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic and sauté the onions become very soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, and spices sauté for 5 minutes Remove to a bowl. Add the tofu. Sauté, stirring occasionally until slightly crispy and browned,about 8 minutes. It should have the bite of ground meat. Add the vegetables back to the pan. Make a well in the middle and add the tomato paste. Let cook for 1-2 minutes, then and pour in the wine. Let cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Add tomatoes, cinnamon, thyme, oregano, parsley, basil, salt, and black pepper.  Toss to mix everything well. Cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in yeast or parmigiana.