Veggie Packed Lentil Bolognese
For a long time, I wasn’t sure I could ever go past a traditional beef bolognese and it is still one of my ultimate comfort meals (especially my mum’s one!). But honestly, this lentil version really hits the spot. I try to ensure we eat at least 1-2 plant-based meals a week and this lentil bolognese is on high rotation in our house. The best thing about this recipe is that it can be done in the slow cooker. Then all you need to do is cook your pasta of choice, stir through the bolognese, top with parmesan and dinner is on the table. How easy is that?!
If your toddler is going through a vegetable strike, this meal would be a great one to try out as the vegetables are hidden away in the sauce. If you wanted to serve this to your baby, you could serve the bolognese on its own or puree it once it has been cooked for a iron-rich meal. This bolognese would also be great for a postpartum mum.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 4 hours (on high) or 8 hours (on low)
Allergens: n/a
Serves: 5-6
Freezer friendly
INGREDIENTS:
1 brown onion
3 garlic cloves
2 medium sized carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 cup of brown mushrooms
2 cans of brown lentils, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1 jar of passata (680g-700g)
1/2 cup bone broth (or vegetable broth)
2 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
Good pinch of sea salt
1 tsp pepper
Pasta of choice
Parmesan to taste
Basil to garnish
METHOD:
Step 1:
Start by preparing your vegetables. Peel the onion, garlic and carrots then roughly chop and set aside. Roughly chop the celery and mushrooms then pop all the vegetables into a food processor and whizz until they are very finely diced. If you don’t have a food processor, you can just do this step by hand.
Step 2:
Add a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Add all the diced vegetables to the pan and fry off for around 5 minutes until they have softened.
Step 3:
Add the vegetables to the slow cooker, followed by all the remaining ingredients. Pop the lid on and set on high for 4 hours or on low for the day (6-8 hours). Alternatively, you could cook this on the stove. Once you have added all the ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and allow to simmer 2 hours (instead of using a slow cooker).
Step 4:
When you are ready to serve, cook your pasta of choice, drain the water, add the bolognese to the pasta and give it a good stir. You may not need to add the entire bolognese to the pasta (depending on how many you are feeding), so you could leave some aside to freeze for dinner another night or for leftovers the following day.
Step 5:
Serve into bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese, basil leaves (if you have them on hand) and season with salt and pepper if desired too.
Pasta suggestions:
I love either the Ceres Organics Quinoa pasta which is a great source of protein and iron. Otherwise, we also have it with plain spaghetti (as pictured above). The San Remo spiral pulse pasta also goes well with this bolognese.
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