Lentil Bolognese
A hearty tomato sauce cooked with lentils, mushrooms, and red wine. It is budget-friendly and super easy to make!
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried brown lentils See Note 1. Can sub 14 oz. can of lentils
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped white, brown, or red
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, cut small into 1cm pieces
- 1 stick of celery, cut into 1cm pieces
- 4 oz baby bella or button mushrooms, sliced about 2 cups
- 28 oz diced tomatoes 2 cans
- 1/2 cup red wine can omit, see note 2
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- 6 oz black olives, sliced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp thyme
- ¼ tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (a few good cracks)
- 1 tbs balsalmic vinegar
- 16 oz fettuccine pasta See Note 3
Instructions
- Before chopping, bring water in a saucepan to a boil and cook lentils according to package instructions. For brown lentils this takes about 25-30 minutes.
- Once all of your ingredients are chopped, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring often, for about 2 minutes.
- Add carrots, celery, and a pinch of salt and cook together for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have started to soften.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds
- Add mushrooms and another pinch of salt and cook until they have started to brown and release their liquid, about 5 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes, red wine, tomato paste, herbs, olives, and ¼ tsp of salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the lentils are finished cooking, strain, rinse, and add to pasta sauce. Taste the pasta sauce and add seasonings as needed, adding more salt to taste, herbs for balance, and maybe some more red wine if you are feeling frisky! Cook together for an additional 10 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Reserve at least a 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
- Add the pasta to the pasta sauce along with ¼-½ cup of the pasta water, just enough so that the sauce is not too thick and mixes well with the pasta. Mix well.
- Divide into bowls and serve, garnishing with a drizzle of olive oil and basil if you like. Enjoy!
Notes
Note 1: You can use brown, green, or red lentils for this recipe. Brown lentils are my favorite for this recipe as they provide a closer texture to a traditional meat bolognese. If you use red, keep in mind that they are smaller and softer and will provide less of a defined texture to the sauce.
Note 2: If omiting the wine, just be sure to add in 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup of the pasta water at the end so that the sauce isn´t too thick and mixes easily with the pasta.
Note 3: Use 4oz more pasta than the recipe calls for if you like your pasta to be less "sauce heavy". Feel free to use your favorite kind of pasta. I would only avoid a thin pasta such as angel hair as the thick sauce will overpower it.
Van-friendly option: Use canned lentils. As the carrots take the longest to cook, you can either be sure to cut them very small or grate them (if you have a grater in the van!). Feel free to cut down on the cooking times once you have added the tomatoes/herbs and after adding the lentils. You can also sub onion powder and garlic powder for fresh. Use 1/2 tablespoon onion powder to replace the onion and 1/2 teaspoon of garlic to replace the garlic.
Freezing instructions: This sauce freezes very well. If you plan on freezing part of the sauce, I recommend separating it into a separate freezable container before mixing with the pasta. Adjust the amount of cooked pasta as necessary.
Make it gluten-free: Use gluten-free pasta