Meatless Bolognese Sauce & Vaticano is a traditional Italian red sauce with highlights from Vatican City, Italy! Our vegetarian bolognese sauce is rich, flavorful, and filled with all kinds of delicious vegetables. You’ll be in heaven with this sauce and no one will ever guess that it’s meatless. Each week as I sit down to write these posts from my Europe trip I’m filled with immense gratitude and often a few tears of joy run down my cheeks. I’ll be forever be grateful to have spent so much time immersed in all the cultures, cuisines, and histories of the cities and countries I visited.  Thanks so much for being apart of my European Adventure as I revisit each city and write about them to share with all of you in our Culinary Journey around the World! 🙂

Today, I’m excited to share our Meatless Bolognese Sauce & Vaticano

This Meatless Bolognese Sauce is a traditional Italian Red Sauce with a touch of cream added to it. I made this batch vegetarian for a dinner party that I hosted a few weeks ago. I must say it was a hit! We all sopped up every last drop of sauce with each slice of our crusty loaf of bread.  Buon Appetito!

We are off to Città del Vaticano

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world. Encircled by a 2-mile border with Italy, Vatican City is an independent city-state that covers just over 100 acres, making it one-eighth the size of New York’s Central Park. Vatican City is governed as an absolute monarchy with the pope at its head. Vatican City is built over the tomb of Saint Peter.

St. Peter’s Basilica

The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peter’s Basilica, is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome.

The center photo above is a four-poster, solid-bronze canopy over the main altar, or the baldacchino of St. Peter’s, appears almost dwarfed by the dome towering right above it. So you might think it’s not that tall. But it is. It’s almost 10 stories tall—it’s just that the dome, above it, is even bigger: 452 feet. (The baldacchino, by the way, also uses no less than 100,000 pounds of bronze).

St. Peter’s Basilica is the home to one of Michelangelo’s most famous masterpieces, the Pietà. In 1497, a cardinal named Jean de Billheres commissioned Michelangelo to create a work of sculpture to go into a side chapel at Old St. Peter’s Basilica.

Michelangelo’s Pietà, a depiction of the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion, was carved in 1499, when the sculptor was 24 years old. The contemporary opinion about this work — “a revelation of all the potentialities and force of the art of sculpture” — was summarized by Vasari: “It is certainly a miracle that a formless block of stone could ever have been reduced to a perfection that nature is scarcely able to create in the flesh.”

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes

Technically, no photo’s are not allowed in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel~ shhhhh!  I just couldn’t help myself from snapping one on the way in and on the way out. . .

Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums were founded in 1506 by Pope Julius II and is a Christian art museums located within the city boundaries of the Vatican City. It displays works from the immense collection amassed by popes throughout the centuries including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. I’d love to go again and make sure to have more time to spend at the Vatican Museums, they are filled with 11 galleries of stunning works.

First photo above is of the statue of Laocoön and His Sons, also called the Laocoön Group, has been one of the most famous ancient sculptures ever since it was excavated in Rome in 1506 and placed on public display in the Vatican, where it remains.

Raphael’s Rooms

Probably ranking second, only after the Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s Rooms are beyond doubt one of the main attraction in the Vatican Museums. The rooms used to be part of the private apartments of Pope Julius II, who entrusted the frescoes to Raphael. The painter from Urbino, worked on them from 1508 to 1520, the year when he died, and thereafter his pupils took on the works until 1524.

One of the most famous room is the Stanza della Segnatura (“Roo of Signature”) housing the private library of Julius II. In here, there are four frescoes representing the four main themes of knowledge: Disputation of the Holy Sacrament (Theology), The School of Athens (Philosophy), The Parnassus (Poetry) and The Cardinal Virtues (Law).

 

As Rome was/is known as the Eternal City even among the ancient Romans themselves. It was so called because the Roman people thought that no matter what happened to the world, no matter how many other empires might rise and fall, Rome would go on forever. Rome’s history spans 28 centuries.

While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The city’s early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans, and Sabines.

Now, to back to our Meatless Bolognese Sauce

As they say the secret is all in the sauce! Our Meatless Bolognese Sauce is simple to make and that secret?? It’s in the long simmer time! It’s a must in any good Italian red sauce so be sure to plan for at least a 2-hour simmer time on the stove.  It makes the whole house smell amazing too! 🙂

If you love our Meatless Bolognese Sauce we think you’ll love these recipes too! 

• Hearty Ratatouille with Penne Pasta

• Pasta and Red Sauce, Basil Chicken with Caramelized Parsnips and Onions

• Hearty Ratatouille with Penne Pasta

• Bruschetta Pasta

• Italian Soda Bar

• Lemon Chicken Roasted Red Potato Pasta

• Sun-dried Tomato, Artichoke, Mushroom Alfredo Pasta

•  Mediterranean Couscous Salad 

• Italian Artichoke Chicken Pasta

• Chicken Marsala with Linguini

• Truffle Macaroni and Cheese

• Italian Tortellini Soup

• Country Italian Salad

• Chicken Piccata with Lemon Caper Sauce

We hope you loved our Meatless Bolognese Sauce & Vaticano highlights today!

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Yield: 10

Meatless Bolognese Sauce & Vaticano

Print

This Meatless Bolognese Sauce is a traditional Italian Red Sauce with a touch of cream added to it. I made this batch vegetarian for a dinner party that I hosted a few weeks ago. I must say it was a hit!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (I use cabernet)
• 3 14.5oz whole peeled italian tomatoes
• 2 6oz tomato sauce or puree
• 2 tablespoons agave
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1.5 tablespoons red wine vinegar, to taste
• 1 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 cups baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup parmesano reggianno, shredded
• 1 tablesppon butter

Instructions

1. In a large heavy bottom stock pot caramelize onions in olive oil until brown in color and aromatic.
2. Add 1/4 cup red wine, de-glaze pan (scrape up bits from bottom of pan)Add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes, de-glaze pan with remaining wine.
3. Add whole tomatoes and tomato sauce, dried herbs, stir.
4. Gently simmer for approx 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. During the last 30 minutes:
6. Add vinegar, salt and pepper to marinara sauce.
7. Using a HOT pan with 1 tbsp olive oil, sear mushrooms in small batches so they will brown and not just boil.
8. Remove to marinara sauce. Repeat process with broccoli florets. 
9. Add cream to marinara, fresh herbs, cheese; stir to combine.
10. Bring to simmer and just before serving finish with butter; stirring to incorporate.
11. Garnish with additonal shredded parmesano reggianno.
12. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 164Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 462mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 5gSugar: 9gProtein: 4g