Lentil Bolognese Pasta (Vegetarian)
A hearty lentil and pasta dish your kids and family will love
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and some for finishing
- 1 pat butter
- 1 shallot or small onion (minced)
- 2 carrots (cut on the round or diced)
- 1/2 cube veggie broth (I use low-sodium vegetarian broth)
- 3/4 cup lentils (rinsed and drained) (Black/beluga, red or Puy/French)
- 1 tsp dried basil (optional)
- 1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
- 2 cups water
- 1 jar marinara sauce (26oz) (I like Trader Joe's Tomato Basil or Del Grosso Marinara Sauce)
- 1 dash smoked paprika
- 1 box pasta (I like De Cecco Fusilli or Rotelle)
- parmesan (for finishing)
Instructions
- Heat a large sauce pan or rimmed skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add oil, butter, shallot, and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly softened and fragrant. Turn down heat.
- Add in the 1/2 cube of bouillon, mashing it in
- Add in the lentils, dried basil and dried oregano and fry together for a minute to get coated
- Add in the 2 cups of water and let mixture come to a boil, then turn heat down to medium low and cook for about 25 minutes or until al dente (see your lentils' package). Most of the water should be cooked off/absorbed by the lentils.
- While the lentils are cooking, in a separate, large pot, boil water for pasta, following the package directions. Save one cup of pasta water before draining pasta.
- When lentils are about cooked, stir in the jar of the marinara sauce and turn down to low heat.
- Add in a dash of smoked paprika (optional)
- In the same large pot for the pasta, drizzle some oil over the pasta. (Add back some of the pasta water if dry.) Combine the sauce with the pasta and mix throughly.
- Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
- Enjoy!