If my dad heard me say lentil and bolognese in the same sentence I think he would disown me. But he hasn’t tried this unreal lentil bolognese. “You can’t call it a bolognese if it doesn’t have meat,” said Thomas.

However, he had three bowls of this “bolognese” so clearly he enjoyed it. Maybe bolognese isn’t the best name for it, but whatever it is, it’s delicious.

It was super easy to make and we had it two nights in a row. This lentil bolognese can put over pasta, quinoa, zoodles, or just eaten as is.

Lentil Bolognese

Ingredients:

• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 celery stalk chopped
• 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
• 7 cloves of garlic (yes I said 7, every Italians dream)
• 6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 2-14.5 ounce cans of diced Italian tomatoes
• 2 tbs dried dried basil
• 1 tsp of fried oregano
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups of red lentils rinsed
• 2 cups of water

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet
2. Add in the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook and stir as needed until everything begins to soften. About 5-10 minutes.
3. Next add in your garlic and stir for another minute or so.
4. Stir in the tomato paste for a minute. Then add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with the juice, oregano, basil, baking soda, salt & pepper.
5. Lastly, add in the lentils and water. Simmer and stir occasionally for 20-30 minutes or until lentils have softened.

Maybe it’s not lentil bolognese in your eyes, but it’s absolutely delicious and I suggest you give it a try. The first night I added some freshly grated parmesan cheese. The second night I had it I used some nutritional yeast as my “cheese”. Absolutely amazing, packed with lots of plant based protein. You can’t go wrong.

Happy Eating, friends!