Vegetarian Bolonese Sauce
Instructions:
- 1 ¼ cups/225g/8oz brown lentils
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 tbsp/15-30ml olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 stick celery, chopped
- 1 ½ cups/400g/15oz can tomatoes, mashed
- 1 tbsp/15ml tomato purse
- ½ tsp/2.5ml dried mixed herbs
- 2 tbsp/30ml red wine
- 350g/12oz whole wheat or spinach pasta
- Soak the lentils overnight and simmer in salted water with a bay leaf until they can be mashed with a fork. Drain and discard the bay leaf.
- Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the carrot and celery and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and a little juice. Add the remaining ingredients and the lentils. Simmer until the sauce is quite thick. Blend or part-blend in a blender.
- Serve the sauce in healthy spoonfuls over the warmed cooked pasta.
- Serves 4-6