One of my favourite foodie discoveries of this year is my lentil spag bol sauce. Who thought it would be so delish? I tried doing this years ago, but I didn't like the result so hadn't bothered again until recently. I usually make my veggie spag bol with either veggie quorn mince or just veggies and perhaps some toasted nuts/seeds on top. One day, I decided to put a handful of red lentils in to bulk it up. I liked it so much, it became a lentil sauce. I'm going to put the recipe I used below. Everything is approximate, so judge by eye and what you like. it's also quick if you think to precook the lentils at a previous convenient time. Also, cooking quantity and freezing is a great time and money saver. For the convenience, canned lentils are a good option, of course.
onion/spring onion,chopped.
lots of garlic. I put half a small bulb into a 2/3 portion sauce. Lentils need punchy flavour!
pinch of thyme
cooked red/brown lentils (approx 8 oz dried, cooked, or a can, I think, in this recipe. For more, increase all quantities accordingly)
nice bit of salt - to taste!
a few grinds of fresh pepper
nice tin of tomatoes
tomato puree/sun-dried tom paste/pesto anything else nice like that
Fry the onion till soft. If it's spring onion, much less frying is needed. Use a little olive oil and a gentle heat with the lid on. (Use water if you're concerned about fat. But cooking gently with the lid on means you need much less fat.)
Then add the garlic & thyme and fry another minute.
Add the tomatoes, rinse the tin out using approx half a tin of water and add that too. Add the puree/paste. Add lentils by eye till it looks nice. You don't want it too stiff and lentil-y.
Bring to the boil and simmer while you cook the pasta. It should have thickened enough by then
I ate this with wholewheat spaghetti, a little fresh grated parmesan, fresh basil (or try fresh parsley/majoram) and a big side salad of baby spinach and grated carrot salad with a drizzle (1 tbsp or less) of home-made vinaigrette made with fresh lemon juice, honey & olive oil.
Budget conscious, healthy, low-fat, nutritious, and tasty. I could eat this every day!
Tonight I'm going to eat the artichoke I harvested on sunday. I know - it's a crime that it should have been sitting around so long at all! It's just they do take about half an hour to boil...so I need to be not very hungry when I get home to wait for it...but fresh artichokes are worth waiting for! When we harvested our first ones this year, we celebrated by eating them with a fresh home-made mayo whipped up while they were boiling and a chilled glass of white wine. LAst week we had a dip of butter and vinaigrette on the side. Butter is marginally my favourite, I think, after the home-made mayo.
