Don’t Miss Out on Meat in This Rich, Vegan Oven-Baked Stew
Hearty stew is a classic cold-weather dish and is usually the first thing I do when temperatures finally drop below 50ºF overnight. I eat meat, but I have not made a traditional meat stew-bolognese for many years. Believe it or not, the vegan eggplant and mushroom stew completely ruined the traditional pork options for me.
Vegan recipes may seem like a gimmick; this one works because it isn’t at all. As with a traditional stew, you will spend a lot of time sweating the vegetables and browning the base for flavor; Unlike a traditional stew, its body is derived from a few pounds of chopped mushrooms and fried eggplant. There are a few more differences – no celery, which I don’t like in the lean red sauce, and beer instead of wine to add body, but you’re actually using traditional methods to make a hearty stew that turns out to be vegan. I don’t miss meat and doubt anyone other than the really dedicated mushroom and / or eggplant haters will do it.
My recipe is adapted from one of J. Kenji López-Alt’s dishes , which makes a nice pot of sauce, but for my taste it is a little finicky. It will take at least three hours from start to finish, but it makes about a gallon of sauce and is totally, totally worth the time. If you’ve finally come across weather that lets you crank the oven for a few hours and you can’t wait to tackle a meditative culinary project, look no further.
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ – 3 lbs. Whole eggplants (two large or three medium)
- meager ½ cup olive oil
- 1 large or 2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
- 1 large or two small carrots, finely chopped
- 2 ½ – 3 pounds of mushrooms, finely chopped by hand or chopped in a food processor (I used a mixture of porcini mushrooms, portobello and shiitake)
- 12 oz. shitty beer (I used Miller High Life; an equivalent volume of dry red or white wine will work too)
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped thinly
- ¼ cups tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon (or more) crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cans of whole tomatoes, 28 oz each
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- Chopped greens, if any
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place the eggplants on a sheet of foil large enough to wrap loosely, drizzle with olive oil and wrap. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until the eggplants are soft and curdled, at least an hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF and let the eggplant cool. When they are cool enough to touch, slice the eggplants longitudinally, remove the pulp and transfer to a bowl.
While the eggplants are roasting, chop the vegetables and place a wide, heavy- bottomed skillet – such as a French / Dutch oven or large deep skillet – over medium to low heat. Preheat the skillet for a couple of minutes, then pour in enough olive oil to completely cover the bottom (I used almost half a cup) and heat until shimmery. Add the onions and carrots to the skillet, season with two large pinches of salt and cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender and lightly browned.
Increase heat to medium and add all mushrooms to skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, to scrape off the browned pieces, until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are completely browned. This is a long and important step: it will take at least 30-45 minutes to fully cook the mushroom liquid (and if you chop the mushrooms in a food processor, it will look pretty nasty until that happens). The longer you brown the mushrooms, the better they will taste, so stick with that.
When the mushrooms are nicely browned, clean the center of the pan and add another tablespoon or two of olive oil. Add the chopped garlic directly to the oil and let it simmer for a minute, then stir to combine with the mushrooms. Pour in beer or wine, increase heat to medium-high and simmer until all liquid has evaporated.
When the alcohol has boiled down, add the tomato paste and pepper flakes to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the eggplant and accumulated juice, then pour in the tomatoes and their juice, crushing them lightly with the back of a spoon. Finally, add the soy sauce and bay leaf, then transfer the pan to the oven at 350ºF. Bake without a lid for two to four hours, stirring once an hour. Just before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and add more salt and / or soy sauce to taste. If you have a little, chopped fresh herbs are a welcome addition.
Serve with pasta or polenta drizzled with olive oil, a little crispy salt and extra chopped herbs; If you are not vegan, you can add a lot of grated pecorino or parmesan. Since it is free from other animal fats, the cheese complements this sauce perfectly without making it overly saturated, so I highly recommend it for lasagna and baked ziti.
This recipe has been a staple of winter food in my home for many years; I may be biased, but I think this is special. Regardless of your meat-eating habits, if you love red sauce, you should try it yourself. It might just transform you!