This walnut bolognese has made it's way onto my table a few times over the past few weeks, as it's a quick, easy and healthy meal which the whole family enjoys.

My usual vegan bolognese recipe is made with red lentils, but some nights I don't have the time to wait 20-30 minutes for the red lentils to cook. One night when I was in a rush to make dinner, I had the idea to add some walnuts to a bolognese sauce, and the end result was a delicious bolognese. 

Walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for healthy brain function. It's interesting to note that walnuts kind of look like brains - according to the doctrine of signatures, foods (or plants) often resemble a body part for which they are good for healing. This is definitely true for walnuts - the brain food that looks like brains!

Ingredients

• 2 tbs water
• 1 onion
• 2 red capsicums
• 1 celery stalk (including the leaves)
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts
• 690g passata
• Salt to taste
• 250g pasta of your choice, to serve
• Optional: extra walnuts, fresh basil, for garnish

Directions

1. Firstly, cook your pasta according to package instructions while you prepare the sauce (generally, bring a pot of water to the boil, add the pasta and boil for around 10 minutes or until cooked through).
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Finely dice the onion, capsicums, celery and walnuts.
3. In a frying pan, add the water, onion, capsicums and celery, and heat over a medium heat while stirring.
4. Add the walnuts and continue to fry for another minute.
5. Pour in the passata and cook for a further 3 minutes, letting the passata reduce a little.
6. Add some salt to taste, if desired.
7. Remove from the heat and blend (if desired; I find blending the sauce makes this dish more pleasing to my children).
8. Mix with sauce with the cooked and drained pasta.
9. Top with the garnishes if using, and serve.

Makes about 4 servings