Vegan Lentil Bolognese
Low cost, high flavour vegan lentil Bolognese recipe your wallet and taste buds will love.
This recipe makes a wonderful vegan Bolognese that is low in fat and cost, while high on fibre and flavour. It's one of my go-to recipes when I want something comforting and filling, but don't want to deal with cooking meat, or when having one of my lovely vegan friends over for dinner.
Cooking lentils is simple, but it should be noted that different kinds of lentils cook differently. This recipe calls specifically for green lentils, which are firmer and take longer to soften than red or yellow lentils, but will not result in an overly mushy Bolognese.
If you do wish to add meat to this sauce, I recommend trying an Italian sausage, or for vegans, a vegan sausage alternative. Remove the sausage from the casing and break it down to use like ground meat. Try making that a spicy sausage for a little more kick.
Ingredients
(Makes 6 servings)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small sweet onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 small carrot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup (200g) dry green lentils
1 can (796ml) San Marzano tomatoes, crushed
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
In a medium-sized soup pot over medium-high heat, add the extra virgin olive oil. Once the oil heats, add the onion, celery, carrot and reduce the heat to medium. Sauté the vegetables until they soften (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic, basil, parsley, oregano, and red pepper flakes and stir well.
Stir in the lentils along with the tomatoes, water, salt, and ground black pepper. Increase the temperature to medium-high and bring to a boil, then lower the temperature to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring often, until the lentils are soft (about 45 to 60 minutes - ready when easily mashed). If the sauce becomes too thick as it cooks, add a little more water (optional: alternately, add chopped zucchini, which will release additional water as it cooks).
Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve over pasta.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze for 8 to 10 weeks.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
total calories = 173 | total fat = 3.06g | saturated fat = 0.34g | cholesterol = 0mg | sodium = 157.58mg | net carbohydrates = 19.36g | dietary fibre = 8.18g | sugars = 4.22g | protein = 8.94g
