Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for spicy tempeh spaghetti

For the (nearly) seven years I’ve been writing recipes here, I’ve wanted to create a vegan bolognese. There are plenty of recipes out there for lentil, tofu, mushroom or vegan mince-based ones, none of which has taken my fancy. But then a box of tempeh caught my eye at the supermarket and everything fell into place. Tempeh, for the uninitiated, is made from fermented soya beans. It’s mild in flavour, and nuttier, meatier and chewier than tofu, and it dances with south-east and east Asian flavours as well as .

Spicy tempeh spaghetti

You’ll find tempeh in the same aisle as tofu at the supermarket. You’ll need chilli bean sauce ( makes a great and widely available one), Sichuan peppercorns and Shaoxing wine, all of which can be found in larger supermarkets, online and in Chinese and south-east Asian food stores.

Prep 10 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4

200g tempeh – I like’s one
200g spring onions, trimmed
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, well bashed in a mortar
4 tbsp (75g) tomato paste
1 tbsp chilli bean sauce
3½ tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1½ tbsp dark agave syrup
Salt
300g spaghetti
6 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus a little extra for the pasta
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
20g chives, finely chopped
Chilli oil or vegan parmesan, to serve

Put the tempeh on a large chopping board, cut it into chunks, then chop it into lentil-sized pieces (or chuck the chunks into a food processor and blitz). Finely chop the white and green parts of the spring onions, put them in a sieve and submerge it in a big bowl of cold water. Squish with your hand to rinse out any sand, then drain.

In another bowl, mix the ground Sichuan pepper, tomato paste, chilli bean sauce, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and agave syrup.

Bring two litres of water to a boil, add two teaspoons of salt and cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Near the end of the cooking time, scoop out a mugful of the starchy water, then drain the pasta and drizzle with a little oil.

Put the oil in a wide frying or saute pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the spring onions and garlic, and stir-fry for two minutes, until the garlic no longer smells pungent. Add the minced tempeh and stir-fry for up to eight minutes, until it starts to brown. Stir in the sauce, cook for two minutes more, then add the cooked pasta and eight or nine tablespoons of the reserved cooking water and toss to combine. Fold in the chives and take off the heat.

Portion the spaghetti into four shallow bowls, furnish with your favourite crispy chilli in oil (mine is ) or vegan parmesan, and serve at once.