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Lentil Bolognese

Lentil Bolognese

Best Bolognese pasta ever! I tried some recipes using TSP (textured soy protein) before and although they tasted good, I prefer this recipe because lentils are not a processed food unlike the TSP. In addition, the flavor and the texture are AMAZING.

I didn’t like celery until a couple of years ago and I only added this detoxifying vegetable to my soups and salads, but now I can understand why the Italians use it to make delicious sauces and dishes. When celery is raw it has an intense flavor, but when it’s cooked it has a lighter flavor.

Lentil Bolognese

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I eat pasta once or twice a week and I’m in love with soba noodles (they’re made with buckwheat flour, a gluten-free cereal).

If you’re following a gluten-free diet, avoid processed gluten-free food because they’re made with refined flours and other unhealthy ingredients. I know non-refined pasta is more expensive, but your body’s worth it and you can use half gluten-free pasta and half zucchini pasta, which is cheaper, healthier and tastes amazing. To make this kind of pasta I use my Spiralizer, although you can make zoodles (zucchini noodles) using a peeler and a knife.

Lentil Bolognese

Tips:

  • Red wine can be replaced for vegetable broth, water or any other wine. You can also add some soy sauce or tamari.
  • Vegan Parmesan  cheese is optional, but it’s so delicious. It can be replaced by nutritional or brewer’s yeast.
  • Use any other dry herb instead of the oregano, I also love thyme.
  • Tomato sauce can be hard to find in some countries, but you can use fresh or canned tomatoes instead, although you should cook the sauce longer.

Lentil Bolognese

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Lentil Bolognese

★★★★★ 5 from 11 reviews
  • Author: Simple Vegan Blog
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Savory
  • Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free, Italian

Best Bolognese pasta ever! I used soba noodles, which are made with buckwheat flour. The sauce is made with lentils and it tastes AWESOME.

Lentil Bolognese
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup lentils (100 g)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 stick of celery
  • 1 carrot
  • Sea salt
  • Black pepper
  • Dry oregano
  • 1 cup tomato sauce (250 g)
  • ¼ cup red wine (75 ml)
  • 9 oz soba noodles (250 g)
  • Vegan Parmesan (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook the lentils and the soba noodles according to package directions.
  2. Heat some oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, celery and carrot (finely chopped). Add sea salt, black pepper and oregano to taste. Cook over medium heat until golden brown.
  3. Add the tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes more.
  4. Add the wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates.
  5. Blend the lentils using a hand blender or a food processor and add the mixture to the frying pan. Stir well.
  6. Serve the soba noodles with the Bolognese sauce and some vegan Parmesan cheese on top. Add oregano to garnish (optional).

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  2. This recipe works perfectly! I added 200 grams of mushrooms (I cut them in very small pieces and toasted them on a dry frying pan – them added them with the smashed lentils) – it tasted wonderful! Thank you Iosune for all your nice recipes! I allways look forward to your posts 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  4. Recipe looks delicious. I never liked the taste of faux meat products, not to mention the questionable ingredients, so this recipe looks very cool. Lentils are fantastic, but I’ve never tried them in a pasta sauce, only added to short pasta like rigatoni and penna for added protein. I think if more people tried cooking with lentils they would enjoy it, they are easy to cook, super flavorful, and filling.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  6. Just made this tonight. Threw in some mushrooms as well. This sauce is a revelation. No more plain old spaghetti sauce for me. The depth of flavor plus the protein kick from the lentils makes this my new pasta sauce.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. Hi! I’m so excited to try this recipe, but I have a question – what exactly is one stalk of celery? One whole head or bunch, or just a “stick” of celery? I’ve heard stalk as being referred to as the whole head and also one “stick” (or rib) of celery.

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Anne! As you can read in the recipe, I used raw lentils and them cooked them using package directions. You just need to boil them until they’re ready. Have a nice day!

      Reply

      • Thanks for your reply… I bought dry lentils, but it seems the brand I chose assumes we all already know how to cook them hehe

        Reply

        • Then boil them until they’re tender, most people add salt to the water, but I prefer to add the salt later 😉

          Reply

  10. I made it and it was delicious. I added some garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes for heat. I don’t have a hand blender thing, so I used red lentils, which turn out mushier. Thank you for the great recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  11. I love serving bolognese over polenta. This recipe sounds like it would be perfect for that. And, a healthy vegan (if not using cheese) or vegetarian (if using cheese – for my daughter cheese is its own food group). I’m definitely going to make this recipe!

    Reply

      • I made this for dinner tonight and love it! I did do the polenta instead of noodles, and I kept my veggies a little chunkier than they show in your photos. I’ll be honest – I have only cooked lentils in something (stew, soup, etc.) so I had to guess how much water to use to cook them. I think I used too little, as they came out a little dry. I’ll know better next time. I also might take one of the other suggestions in the comments and add some mushrooms. I love mushrooms in just about anything!

        ★★★★★

        Reply

    • Hi Patti! I live in Spain, so I can’t help you, sorry! However, I think you should find soba noodles at Asian supermarkets, online (Amazon is great) or your local health store. Have a nice day!

      Reply

  13. I made your bolognese sauce (the one where you used TVP) last week. Not having TVP, subbed in 8 oz of tempeh. Before beginning, I researched the classic sauce recipe from Marcella Hazen. Hers called for some cream and a bit of nutmeg so I used plant milk, about half a cup, adding before the wine. Important to let it cook until it is absorbed into the dish, then add wine. I added a can of diced tomatoes too, adjusting the amount of broth. I used some pasta cooking water too at the end because it was a little dry, probably because tempeh absorbs lots of water, it was amazing and very reminiscent of the classic version.

    Reply

  14. Made this yesterday. It was delicious. The only thing I did differently was processed the celery and carrots but didn’t blend the lentils. The celery and carrots were still crunchy (the bigger bits) so I’m wondering how crunchy it would be if you only chopped it. Nevertheless I’ll make it again because it was easy, tasty and so healthy.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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