Lentil Bolognaise

by Collette White | 6 November, 2019

Good Morning friends! I hope this finds you all well. Things have changed quite a lot in the way my family are eating (well really, the choices they are making) the past few weeks and seem to be changing again – I must write an entire blog on it to catch you up! You’ll be seeing far more Vegetarian (and hopefully Pescatarian … Vegetarian plus Seafood) recipes on here it seems. I thought I would try out a classic ‘bologanise’ for my family – they LOVED it – Miss ‘almost’ 9 who is my fussiest of all 4 kids said as she was half way through eating it “I LOVE this so much Mum and don’t worry, yes I know it has mushrooms in it” – she HATES mushrooms, I honesty thought she would turn her nose up at it and she didn’t, so that was a big WIN! Another two bonus and random facts, I worked out that this bolognaise cost $10 less than the beef one I usually make – over a week, it all adds up AND it was crazy quick to make. Once the veg were all chopped, the meal in itself cooked quicker than the pasta! As always I would love to hear from you when you make it!

Ingredients

1 x 425g tin chickpeas

1 x 425g tin red kidney beans

1 x 425g tin lentils

1 x 425g tin black beans

1 tblspn oil of choice

3 cloves garlic – crushed

1 large brown onion – diced small

300g mushrooms (white cup) – diced small

3 x large carrots – diced small

1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes

1 tblspn paprika

1 tblspn dried thyme leaves

1 tblspn dried rosemary leaves

extra good pinch salt and pepper

¼ tspn chilli flakes (optional) *

To serve:

pasta of choice *
feta of choice *
fresh parsley or fresh basil

Method

In a large colander etc drain the chickpeas, red kidney beans, lentils and black beans and rinse well under running cold water.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium – high heat.

Add the oil and onion and stir fry until softened and fragrant, do not burn.

Add the mushrooms and carrots and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until softened.

Add all the remaining ingredients (all the lentils / beans, tomatoes, herbs and spices), reduce heat to low and stir every minute for 5 minutes.

Serve with pasta of choice topped with a sprinkle of feta and fresh herbs.

Serves 2 adults and 4 children

Notes

To make this gluten free, use GF pasta of choice eg rice, quinoa, lentil, chickpeas – these are becoming more readily available in the Supermarkets
Use Feta of choice depending on your dietary requirements – some of my family had cows milk feta and others had soy milk feta
3 of my 4 children aren’t chilli fans so I left the chilli flakes out