I'd been making lentil bolognese for many years, before trying it with a sofrito base. The diced vegetables add a lovely texture to the dish, and are a great contrast to the soft lentils.
Many vegan bolognese recipes use red lentils, but I prefer to use green, as they maintain their structure during cooking, and don't get lost in the tomato sauce.
Generous amounts of fresh, finely chopped rosemary and dried marjoram add a lovely sweet, woody flavour to the bolognese. It's delicious on it's own or served with freshly grated parmesan.
Serves 3-4
Olive oil
1 large onion
2 celery sticks
1 carrot
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
3oz green lentils
1 tablespoon of dried marjoram (or oregano)
1 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon of sun-dried tomato paste
Seasoning
Spaghetti
- Place the lentils in a pan and cover with 3x the amount of water. Bring to the boil, cover and then simmer for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are soft.
- Finely dice the onion, carrot and celery.
- Finely chop the rosemary.
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, over a low to medium heat.
- Add the onion, carrots, celery and rosemary to the pan and sauté until the onion is translucent.
- Crush the garlic and add it to the pan. Stir for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add the cooked lentils and marjoram and stir well to combine. Sauté for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan, then pour a small amount of water into the can and give it a swish round to gather up the remaining tomatoey bits. Pour into the pan.
- Stir in the sun-dried tomato paste, then season well and stir again to combine.
- Bringing the mixture to the boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.
- Serve the lentil bolognese on top of, or mixed through the spaghetti.
