Die hard Italian fans will hate me for calling this dish Bolognese. But as mentioned on the “about” page, this is not the blog for traditional cuisine! This is a vegan take on the kind of Bolognese I know in Australia, which means mince in a tomato based saucy substance with maybe carrots or something or cheese mixed through. What’s more… today it’s actually breakfast 
Before cooking (3 minutes)
The biggest deal in this dish is the TVP (I could have used brown lentils, but this was in the cupboard. I’ll show you the alternative another day).
You need to soak the TVP for a short while, a minute will do if you stir the water in, and squeeze as much water out of the soaked peices as much as possible. I do this by squasing the whole lot down in a strainer and then squeezing handfuls at a time while putting it in the wok.
You’ll also need soy sauce (gives the finished product a dark look), Paprika (optional - for extra taste) and some kind of Italian Herb/s. Malt Vinegar is nice to drop on the cooked meal to emulate a little of the sourness of melted cheeze. Sounds weird, I know, but it works for me (see my second chin? Cheeze did that!).
Vege-wise, today I’m using mushrooms, tomatoes (duh) and broccoli, which I’ve previously soaked in salt water to sterilize. And instead of the traditional spaghetti, I’m adding pasta spirals. Because that’s what was in the cupboard (maybe that should be the new motto of this blog).
Cooking (ten minutes)
So as the first recipe on Whirled Peas, you’ll notice the curious absence of amounts. In short, what I’ve outlined below is what I did this morning. Cooking to “amounts” is actually against the principle of quick and easy cooking. Got a lot of broccoli? Add more broccoli. Got more spaghetti than pasta? Use spaghetti. Don’t have broccoli? Use carrots. More in a later ‘tip’ post.
1. Heat the oil (I used sunflower which is good for frying, I believe), add the mushrooms, and fry until slightly browned.
2. Add the TVP and fry again until slightly brown.
3. Throw in the Broccoli and chopped tomatoes.
4. Add just a little water, so that you can almost see it gathering at the base of the wok, and cover to steam. Stir occasionally.
5. When dry and the vegetables are soft-ish, add a few dollops of soy sauce to taste.
6. Add paprika and plenty of herbs. Nearly there now 
7. Stir the paprika and herbs and fry for just a short while, until the fragrance begins to waft nicely.
8. Add plenty of water and stir until the consistency is as you would like the finished meal. For me, that’s fairly saucy.
9. Serve, and add a few spurts of vinegar to taste. This will give the meal a cheesy taste. Promise.
10. Most importantly, eat before cleaning up or brushing hair.
Bellissimo!
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