Lentil Bolognese
This delicious plant-based, vegan pasta has a hearty, "meaty" texture! Serve with long, wide pasta such as pappardelle, tagliatelle or fettuccine.
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tube (150g) tomato paste (The tubed tomato paste offers more flavour than canned tomato paste.)
- 1/4 cup walnuts, ground or finely chopped) (I ground the walnuts in a Magic Bullet.)
- 3 medium tomatoes, diced (or 6-8 small tomatoes or a small can of crushed / diced tomatoes) (I used diced fresh tomatoes for a chunkier texture.)
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)
- 1 package long, wide pasta (I used pappardelle. Tagliatelle or fettuccine would also be delicious!)
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Parley for garnish
Instructions
- Rinse the red lentils and then soak them in cold water for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in in large pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions for a few minutes until softened.
- Add the garlic, oregano, thyme.
- Stir in the broth and tomato paste.
- Add the lentils and walnuts. Stir well and heat to a boil. Turn the heat to low for about 20 minutes and continue stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Continue to stir and simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain the pasta but do not rinse it.
- Stir the balsamic vinegar into the bolognese sauce. Taste the sauce and add more salt / pepper to your preference.
- Serve the bolognese sauce over hot pasta. Garnish with chopped parsley.
