Lentil Bolognese

Another recipe today which I cooked for the vegetarian and (mostly) gluten free camp. It’s loosely inspired by a Deliciously Ella recipe which I then tweaked and up scaled to serve 40 adults. This recipe caters for roughly 10 people which means it’s a great freezer stash meal. Unfortunately little one doesn’t tolerate lentils very well (another food item to add to the poorly list!) so this meal is just for me and her daddy. However if your little one can eat lentils then it is a great, nutritious family meal. I served this with rice for one meal and jacket potatoes for another. It would also go well with spaghetti or gluten free pasta, or even mashed potato! As we were catering for a few vegans I omitted grated cheese, however regular or dairy free cheese, such as Violife, is really yummy grated over the top of your Bolognese. If you have some leftover then it makes a lovely soup. Just add a little more stock and blitz with a hand held blender! I cook a lot of vegetarian meals for my family for a number of reasons; health, taste, cost… This recipe is one which smells like a traditional meat Bolognese every time I cook it yet it doesn’t leave me feeling uncomfortable like mince dishes can sometimes do.

  
Ingredients

Olive oil
5 Onions, finely chopped
5 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
8 Carrots, 4 finely chopped and 4 grated
8 Stalks of Celery, finely chopped
1 tube of Tomato purée
1kg of Chopped Tomatoes (2 1/2 tins)
1 kg of Red Lentils (dried) rinsed thoroughly under cold water
A couple tbsp each of dried oregano and thyme
1.5l vegetable stock (I used Kallo organic very low salt so it was baby friendly and gluten free)

Method

1. In a large pan sweat the onions and garlic until soft in the olive oil. After about 10 minutes add the carrots and celery and cook for a further ten minutes until soft.
2. Stir in the lentils, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, herbs and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for an hour until the lentils are soft and the sauce thickens. Add splashes of water if it starts to look dry.

Important Bits

Dairy, egg, nut, soya and gluten free
Makes 10 servings
Total make time under two hours
Freezable