Balla’Naise

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Talk about mangia, mangia, mangia, mannnn. On a recent herby Sunday afternoon, we popped a bomber of ale and picked some fresh basil and got the hankering for a sloppy trough of pasta. You know, the kind that clings to the corners of your open-wound of a mouth or the stained bib on your naked body. And you can’t recreate that with just some vegan primavera. Now, neither of us at Hot Knives has ever watched a full episode of the Sopranos, but we know all about Sonny, Fredo and Michael Corleone, and face it, sometimes even a surly vegan wants to leave a horses’ head in some bastard’s bed and celebrate with a puckery pappardelle. This vegan bolognese dishes it out…
Here we salvaged some leftover pulsed walnut “dust” that was sitting in the fridge and coated garden-fresh, sliced vegetables with the nut crumbs and krunk I-talian spices. Sauted up in just a tad more olive oil than you might think prudent, the nuts toast and then glop, sucking in tomato sauce, not unlike a ground beef bolognese. Not fake meat, just real fat, errr, phat?

Nut-Veg Bolognese
(Serves 2)

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1/4 cup walnuts
1 zucchini
1/2 red onion
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup marinara of choice
1/2 packet of spaghetti
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1. In a hot sauté pan, toast your walnuts, toss them with a pinch of salt, no oil, for about 5 minutes or until toasty but not black. Now bust up yer walnuts in a cuisinart, blender or with a hammer. You want a fine dust. Set aside.
2. Heat marinara in a microwave or on the stove.
3. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once rolling, add your spaghetti and let cook 6-7 minutes to al dente while the veggies get cooked. When done, drain and rinse and set aside.
4. Slice up the zuke into thick matchsticks and the onion into thin half moons. In a large mixing bowl, douse the veggies with ground walnuts and about half the olive oil and mix by hand. Add red pepper flakes and pressed garlic and keep mixing.
5. Add the rest of the olive oil to a large pan and put it on high. Toss in fennel seed and toast for 1 minute. Once hot toss in veggie mixture and sauté for about 5-8 minutes or until veggies are tender and the nut dust is starting to get brown and crunchy.
6. With your spoon push the nutty veggies to one side of the pan and keep the empty side of the pan over the flame and add balsamic vinegar to cook off whatever gook you’ve left caked to the bottom of the pan. Let it cook down for 1 more minute and then remove from heat.
7. In a large mixing bowl, combine lukewarm pasta with hot marinara, fresh basil leaves, and, finally, most of the nut-veggie mixture, leaving a small fistful for garnish topping.
Beverage: Vertical Epic 7.07.07 (Belgian aged in Red WIne Barrels)
Soundtrack: Billy Joel’s “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant”

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9 Responses to Balla’Naise

  1. meagan says:

    I sat down to eat this and couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on – I mean, there ain’t no meat in this kitchen and the texture of brewers yeast doesn’t perform tricks like this dish was doing… F’ing toasted walnut dust! Brilliant.

  2. Hawkeye says:

    One of the best “bolognese” style dishes I’ve tasted. I added some butter fried mushrooms with a thin balsamico glaze, tossed in some dried peperoncino/parsley and some added some thin slices of lightly salted/olive oil sprinkled cherry tomatoes together with the fresh basil. Magnificent. I am eagerly reading your blog from up north Scandinavia, Norway, and you guys inspire me a lot. Thanx a lot and keep those knives hot.

  3. EVAN says:

    Hawkeye,
    Sounds amazing, good calls! Fried mushrooms make anything meatier. Thanks for reading in Norway, we know you could be doing a whole lot of other things: drinking beer at sunset at 3 am, chopping furniture for a summer bonfire. Keep cookin’.

  4. Hawkeye says:

    Thanx for the words. Will do for sure; And now it’s the season to head out in the forest for some gathering of tasty mushrooms and wild berries…

  5. Ally says:

    Wow– This sounds amazing. Spag Bol is a staple for me– this sounds like a great way to shake it up.

  6. try it with pecans instead of walnuts!! they add a really potent buttery sweetness that gives the dish a rich-er spin.

  7. dizi izle says:

    I am eagerly reading your blog from up north Scandinavia, Norway, and you guys inspire me a lot. Thanx a lot and keep those knives hot.

  8. Nice work. How did you make the actual particles? Are they just flat images with some alpha or something more fancy?

  9. Pictures says:

    Thanks admin Scandinavia, Norway, and you guys inspire me a lot. Thanx a lot and keep those knives hot.

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