Recipe notes: 

This is my go to filling comfort meal. A fab, easy mid week recipe and a great way to pack in more legumes to your diet. Also a good meal to make in a bigger batch and freeze portions to reheat when you have less time/energy to cook a whole home cooked meal.

Lentils: Green or brown tinned lentils provide the best texture for this dish. I have made it with red lentils before but this will take a little longer for the lentils to cook. The picture shows a mix of green and brown lentils. 

Spice: If you love a bit more spice you can add in some chilli flakes with the other spices and a lil sprinkle on top!

Tomatoes: Regular chopped (tinned) tomatoes will also work if you don’t have plum to hand. I just find that plum tomatoes are much more flavorful. 

Coconut sugar: Any kind of sweetener will work here too, coconut sugar is a little less sweet than regular sugar so go careful with this, you don’t want a sweet pasta dish! I would also advise to taste as you go when adding the coconut sugar, to adjust for your own preferences.

Stock: I use a low salt stock cube for all my cooking. I prefer having the control of how much salt I add myself. If you only have regular stock though, no worries, maybe omit the extra salt later or taste before you add.  

(The garlic bread is Tesco own brand one – its accidentally vegan!)

Lentil Bolognese

Time: 35 minutes

Serves: 2 

Ingredients:

• 1 tin plum tomatoes 
• 1 tin green lentils – rinsed well and drained 
• 1 small onion 
• 1-3 cloves of garlic 
• veggie stock cube (i use a low salt one) 
• 1 tsp miso paste 
• 1 tbsp red wine vinigar
• 1 tbsp tomato puree 
• 1 tsp coconut sugar 
• 2 tsp oregano 
• 1 tsp paprika 
• salt and pepper to taste 
• fresh basil (opt) 

Method:

1. Finely chop the onions and garlic and add to a pan with the veggie stock cube plus a small amount of water (about 1 tbsp) saute on medium heat until the onions become translucent and the stock cube has mixed in. 
2. Add in the plum tomatoes, the lentils and the tomato puree.
3. Squish the tomatoes a little with the back of your spoon or a fork as you stir so that the mix becomes less chunky. 
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients, stir well then cover and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes for it to thicken. 
5. Mix in finely chopped fresh basil, adjust the salt and pepper for taste preference and serve. 
6. Top with some cracked black pepper, and extra fresh basil on top.