Charred Vegetable Ragu

"This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks your pasta noodles much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but the sauce is vegetarian...vegan, actually! The key to success is cooking the vegetables hot and fast, so they char but don't fully cook and soften, which they will do once you're simmering the whole sauce. The other important point is to chop the vegetables, after charring, finely enough that they resemble the ground"

"Inspired by a recipe from Food & Wine magazine, my version includes dried porcini (though it's optional), which enhances the smoky-meaty flavors of the charred vegetables, and I crisp up a bunch of kale leaves and add them to the mix, which brings a pleasant, slightly bitter note to the otherwise sweet vegetables. Pappardelle rigate is a great noodle for this ragu, with its wide,"

Cook vegetables hot and fast to char their surfaces without fully softening them, since simmering will finish the cooking and soften the pieces. After charring, chop the vegetables finely enough to resemble ground meat but not so finely that they become a puree. Dried porcini can be added to enhance smoky, meaty flavors, and crisped kale leaves introduce a pleasant, slightly bitter counterpoint to the sweet vegetables. A food processor can speed chopping, while a chef's knife provides more control. Pappardelle rigate, bucatini, or rigatoni each suit the ragu for different textures and serving styles.

Read at Epicurious