Toasty Roasty Food Blog

A mid-week meal packed with fibre and protein.

According to my one Italian friend (and admittedly no further research), a bolognese is any tomato based sauce. As such, this recipe is a bolognese – case closed, no further questions.

As I have said before, nothing in this blog is truly authentic or original. I don’t even serve this sauce with spaghetti. I know there is a rough science to which pasta shapes are best for certain sauces, but I generally pair this sauce with whatever pasta I have at hand. For me, this a midweek go-to dinner, I’m not getting technical with pasta shapes on a Wednesday night.

Pasta politics aside, I have found lentils mixed with ground walnuts to be a super savoury flavour with a meaty texture for a minced meat replacement. In particular, this combination in a sauce is great at soaking up the flavours around it. If you are trying to up your plant food intake, this minced meat replacement may be your new favourite combo. 

Effort: ⅗. A lot of veg to chop but uses simple techniques.

Preferred season to enjoy: This is a year round staple dinner for me!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium white onion
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium sized carrots
• 1 stick of celery
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 100g of brown lentils (dried or canned)
• 60 g of walnuts
• 2 tbsp of tomato puree
• 1 can (400g) of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp of dried or fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp of dried oregano
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp of ground black pepper (and more to taste)
• 1 tsp of vegetable stock powder or salt
• Sugar or honey to taste

Optional: 

• 50 ml of white wine or vermouth
• ½ tsp of dried chilli flakes

Method: 

1. Chop and prepare the veg:

• Finely dice the onion
• Crush and slice the garlic
• Dice the carrots and celery into equal size pieces 
• If using fresh herbs, chop up finely
• Blitz the walnuts into breadcrumb like consistency 

2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery with a sprinkle of salt. Put the lid on and let the veg sweat on low-medium heat until the onion and garlic becomes translucent. Stir to prevent any veg sticking. 
3. Add the tomato puree and chilli flakes if you are using them. Stir the puree gently and wait until it turns a couple of shades darker. 
4. Add the tinned tomatoes and fill the can up with water and add that too. Add the herbs, seasonings and vinegar as well as the wine or vermouth if using. Stir and bring to a simmer. 
5. If using dried brown lentils, add them and another can of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 – 30 minutes with the lid on and stirring occasionally. 
6. If using cooked lentils, drain them from the can and rinse. Let the sauce simmer and develop flavour for about 20 minutes and then add them in. 
7. When the lentils are cooked, add in the blitzed walnuts and let them soak up the flavour for a few minutes. 
8. At this stage, you need to taste the sauce and adjust it. This is a good time to add a tsp of brown sugar or honey. This can help mellow any overly acidic or metallic flavours from the tinned tomatoes and round out the flavour of the sauce. It should not make the sauce overly sweet tasting. Similarly, the sauce may need extra acidity or more salt. Add balsamic vinegar for more acidity and salt for more flavour. Add more ground black pepper as needed too. If the sauce is too thick, add more water
9. As the flavour is developing and simmering, start to cook your desired pasta to serve with the sauce.

Alternatives and add ins:

• Use what you have: If you don’t have carrots or celery, this recipe still works. Add frozen peas if you want, just don’t tell an Italian you did that. 
• More plant protein: Add in a tablespoon or two of quinoa with the dried lentils. This adds more protein and fibre, as well as adding the mince-like texture.
• Parmesan or nutritional yeast: Either add this while it’s cooking or top with it when serving.