Tuscan Ragu with Pici | Meatless Ragu Recipe With Pasta (Vegetarian!) | Rachael Ray

For the stock, preheat oven to 400˚F, add stock ingredients to a large oven-safe pot, coat with EVOO and roast 30 minutes to lightly brown. Add water to come to top of vegetables, turn oven up to 425˚F, and roast 1 hour to reduce by a third. Let cool to room temperature and strain.

For the meatless ragu, bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Heat a Dutch oven or large saucepot over medium heat with EVOO, add carrot, celery, fennel, onion, garlic, sage, rosemary, salt and white pepper and soften 5 to 7 minutes. Add meat alternative or meat, crumble and let the color change but do not brown the protein. Add paste and stir a minute or 2, add wine and let it absorb, add the stock and bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to low and gently simmer 30 minutes. 

Salt water and cook the pasta to al dente; for dried pici, that is about 22 minutes. Reserve about ¾ cup of cooking water, then drain pasta. Combine the pasta with about ⅔ of the sauce, the reserved water and the grated cheese, toss 1 minute and serve in shallow bowls topped with remaining sauce.