Lentil Bolognese

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g tomatoes, pureed
• 200 g beluga lentils
• 250 ml water
• 150 ml wine
• 250 g carrot(s)
• 200 g onion(s)
• 50 g leek
• 50 g parsley root(s)
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 50 g sunflower seed butter
• 2 tsp rosemary
• 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
• chili flakes
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 350 g pasta

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

the ultimate recipe

Briefly bring the lentils to a boil in the water, set aside, and let them steep. The lentils will finish cooking later in the sauce. Beluga lentils take a little longer than the small red ones, but they have a bit more bite. Chop the carrots, onions, leeks, and parsley root and fry them lightly in olive oil for 15 minutes, stirring well every now and then. Meanwhile, finely chop the garlic and add it at the end along with the rosemary, paprika, chili flakes, and salt, and let it steep for a short while. The chili flakes should make the sauce flavorful, but not overly hot. How much you need depends on your taste and the chilies; 1/4 teaspoon should be enough. Now add the passata, wine, and lentils, and let everything simmer for half an hour. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water according to the package instructions. It’s best to use pasta that needs to cook for a good 10 minutes, such as penne. Spaghetti doesn’t go so well with the coarse-grained sauce. Finally, mix the sunflower seed puree with a little water until it forms a thick cream, add it to the sauce, and stir. If you just add it as it is, it won’t blend as well with the sauce. Instead of leek or parsley root (or in addition to it), you could also use celery or other strong soup vegetables. Depending on your taste, you can also use a little more wine, preferably red, and less sunflower seed puree; the sauce will then be more tart and refined. Or less wine, perhaps white wine, and more sunflower seed puree. The sauce will be creamier, almost creamy. As an alternative to 50 g of sunflower seed puree, you can also use 25 ml of vegetable oil in a pinch. Since the lentils don’t contain any fat, you shouldn’t be too sparing with the oil. However, without the puree, the sauce won’t be quite as creamy. This recipe may sound like a bit too much sauce for too little pasta, but since the lentils also contain carbohydrates, I find more sauce for slightly less pasta better. That’s why spaghetti doesn’t go so well with this, as it can’t absorb as much sauce.