The best kind of meatless recipes are the kinds that both meat eaters and non-meat eaters enjoy and trust me, this is one of them. I love how easy this sauce is to throw together too – it takes virtually no work on your end to make it from start to finish.
As you well know, I’m all about those easy meals. Not to sound like a broken record, but most of us just don’t have time to spend hours (or even 1 hour) in the kitchen at the end of the day or in the middle of a busy week. Easy recipes like this one and key, and seriously, you’ll be hard pressed to find a recipe as easy as this one.
This lentil “bolognese” is a riff off a similar recipe in The Essential Vegetable Cookbook (if you have it, it’s the Spaghetti Squash with Split Pea Bolognese on page 220!). It’s delicious, hearty, satisfying and comforting all at the same time. Plus, the options that you can pair it with are pretty much endless! In the summer, I love it over zucchini noodles, it’s awesome on butternut squash noodles in the fall and works well on spaghetti squash too. Of course, you can always add it on top of regular pasta too, because… carbs. My personal favorite way to eat this is with a mix of regular pasta and veggie noodles.
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 24- oz. jar tomato sauce preferably one with herbs and spices already added*
- 3/4 cup dried lentils
- 1/4 cup water
- Salt
- Pepper
- *Spices if not already in sauce: oregano basil, parsley
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion.
- In a pot, add olive oil over medium high heat. Add diced onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened.
- Add tomato sauce (and spices if adding), lentils, water, salt and pepper to the pot. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
- Cover pot and let simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are cooked but not mushy and the sauce has thickened. Note that the sauce will continue to thicken a little once removed from heat.
- Serve over pasta and/or veggie noodles. Store extra bolognese in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
