Soy bean paste adds flavor to carrot bolognese

PITTSBURGH — It’s every chef’s dream to create a dish so beloved and satisfying that customers would complain — pretty loudly — if it ever came off the menu.

For Curtis Gamble of Station in Bloomfield, that star dish is the vegetal Carrot Bolognese he created before the pandemic began.

“We were making some very strong vegetable purees in the pressure cooker to fold into some spring risottos,” he recalls, “and were playing around with soy bean and miso paste instead of tomato.”

Bolgnese is a rich, slowly cooked Italian ragu traditionally made with beef, tomato paste, white wine and whole milk. This was something unique.

When Gamble paired his soy bean and miso paste with a really strong carrot puree, “it was very visual,” he says.

The addition of soy bean paste gave the puree a deep richness and to his surprise, a caramelized meat flavor.

“So we reworked the recipe to come up with this carrot riff on Bolognese and ran with it.”

The dish became so popular that it’s still on both the lunch and dinner menus. Gamble ventures a guess as to why.

More customers than ever are seeking out plant-based dishes, but they want much, much more than just a bunch of vegetables thrown on a plate. While his Bolognese is obviously very vegetable-forward, it looks like a lot of thought went into it.

“It’s not just a salad or a side dish.”

Gamble uses local carrots in the sauce whenever he can — they’re always organic — and he makes the carrot juice in house as well.

The recipe was developed in a traditional pressure cooker but these days they actually make it in an Instant Pot because the restaurant kitchen is really small “and we can just plug it in on the counter.”

His one chef’s tip is to keep a careful eye when adding the soy bean paste because it can quickly burn due to the sugar content.

“Also, pour a little liquid off of [the sauce] before you puree it, then add it slowly in,” he says. Otherwise, you’ll end with a sauce that’s the texture of baby food.

At the restaurant, the Bolognese ($16 lunch, $31 dinner) is served over red pepper orecchiette, but any favorite noodle will work. Omit the cheese to make it vegan.

Carrot Bolognese

Serves 4-6. Chef Curtis Gamble, Station

2 ounces diced celery

4 ounces diced Spanish onions

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

5 large basil leaves

1 teaspoon Lucknow fennel seed, toasted and ground

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1 teaspoon green za’ atar

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons soybean paste

4 cups rough cut carrots, peeled

2 cups water

2 cups carrot juice

Cooked noodles, for serving

Salt, black pepper and sherry vinegar, to taste

Beemster XO cheese, for grating on top

In an Instant Pot, sweat celery and Spanish onions in 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Once translucent, add garlic and basil and continue to sweat until it is fragrant.

Add fennel seed, coriander seed and green za’atar and toast lightly.

Add tomato paste and cook until bright red, but do not caramelize! Add soybean paste and stir to combine.

Add carrots, water and carrot juice, and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes. Once cooked, release pressure and ladle off a quart of liquid.

With a hand blender, pulse the mix until it breaks it down into a chunky mixture. Don’t over-mix, or you’ll end up with something closer to baby food.

To serve, use the warm Bolognese mix to dress your favorite cooked noodles, and season with salt, pepper, butter and sherry vinegar. Top with grated Beemster XO and more black pepper.