Lentil Bolognese

This tasty mix of roast vegetables, spices and lentils is a vegan alternative to ‘spag bol’.

This pasta dish combines a gentle mix of spices with a dry sauce, enabling the flavour and texture of the lentils to contrast with the pasta. With only a small quantity of tomato their flavour does not dominate. Any vegetable you may add should be lightly roasted to retain the shape and texture and add to the visual impact, do not limit yourself to the more traditional selection.

Ingredients

Preparation: 15 mins Cooking: 45 mins Serves: 6

200 gm (1 cup) brown lentils

2 cups water

2 bay leaves

3 sprigs parsley/coriander

4 courgette, small, sliced

16 tomatoes, small

3 tbsp olive oil

3 onions

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp coriander, ground

1 tsp cumin, ground

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp pepper, ground

1/4 cup tomato passata*

500 gm pasta

1/4 tsp salt

4 tbsp yoghurt**

4 sprigs parsley/coriander

Method

SIMMER lentils, bay leaves and parsley in the water for 30 minutes (or until soft).

HEAT oven to 180 C/350 F/ Gas 4.

MIX tomato and courgette with 1 tbsp olive oil.

ROAST for 20 minutes.

HEAT 1 tbsp olive oil.

CHOP 2 onions and fry in the oil gently until soft.

ADD the garlic and spices to the onion and cook for a further 2 minutes.

DRAIN the cooked lentils, retaining some of the liquid for the sauce.

ADD the lentils and tomato passata to the onion mix, stirring in a little of the lentil liquid to produce a sauce.

SLICE 1 onion in half and finely slice.

HEAT remaining oil and fry the onion until crisp.

BOIL water, add salt and cook pasta as per instructions on the packet.

DRAIN the pasta, return to the saucepan, add the lentils and the roasted vegetables and mix through.

Serve

Top with fried onions and yoghurt (adding cumin and coriander).

Notes

* Passata can be substituted with tomato paste thinned with a little water.

**Select dairy free yoghurt for vegan diets.