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.
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.
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
- Prep: 10 mins
- Cook: 30 mins
- Total: 40 mins
- 4 1x
- Main dish
- Vegan, Italian
Servings 4 1x
Best Bolognese pasta ever! I used soba noodles, which are made with buckwheat flour. The sauce is made with lentils and it tastes AWESOME.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry 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
- Cook the lentils and the soba noodles according to package directions.
- 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.
- Add the tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Add the wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates.
- Blend the lentils using a hand blender or a food processor and add the mixture to the frying pan. Stir well.
- Serve the soba noodles with the Bolognese sauce and some vegan Parmesan cheese on top. Add oregano to garnish (optional).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 373
- Sugar: 5.1g
- Sodium: 841mg
- Fat: 4.3g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7g
- Carbohydrates: 69.8g
- Fiber: 9.2g
- Protein: 16.6g
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
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Delicious! I made it last night and it was the best pasta sauce I’ve made! I didn’t have much time so I skipped blending the lentils (the ones I have cook up very soft and almost falling apart anyway) and just served them on top of the spaghetti covered by the sauce. We had it with brown rice spaghetti instead of buckwheat noodles. 2 of us (moderate eaters but we love pasta) ate only this for dinner and there was barely any leftover. Thanks for the great recipe!
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Hi Julee, sounds so good! I am so glad you liked it 🙂 Have a nice day!
Great recipe to follow! I made a few small tweaks based on how I’ve made bolognese sauce in the past. I used fresh tomatoes instead of sauce, simmering red lentils directly in the sauce to give the tomatoes more time to disintegrate. Using red lentils and simmering them for enough time (20 minutes or so), in my opinion, removes the need for blending anything. And I added a splash of soymilk during the final simmering stages. Really happy with the results!
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Hi Neal! So glad you liked it 🙂
Is it a half cup cooled or dry lentils?
Hi Siena! I used dry lentils 🙂
I added white cup mushrooms a little bit of garlic and blended a tin of brown lentils and treated them as you would regular mince as well as chilli. Absolutely love this. Thanks for giving me the base to tweek for myself.
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Hi Dan! Sounds so good 🙂 Thank YOU!
So easy and so delish! I put a tablespoon of the nutritional yeast as suggested since I didn’t have vegan cheese. It was perfect over whole wheat spaghetti. 💛
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Hi Kathie! So glad you liked it 🙂
Yummy!
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Hi Bonnie! Thanks a lot 🙂
Better than meat boloñesa! Thank you for this recipe.
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Hi Irizelma! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
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.
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Hi Shazkins! Thanks a lot 🙂 So glad you liked it!
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.
Hi Linda! Sounds AMAZING 😀 Thanks for sharing!
Iosune, where do you buy soba noodles?
Thanks, Patti
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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!
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!
Hi Linda! Hope you like it 😀
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!
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Hi Linda! I’m so glad you liked it 😀
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!
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Hi Carly! Thanks a lot 😀 I’m so glad you liked it!
Hello,
What wine would be used in this recipe? White or red?
Thank you!!
Hi Dani! I used red whine 😉
Hi 🙂
Are these lentils cooked ahead? If so, what is your preferred method? 🙂
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!
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
Then boil them until they’re tender, most people add salt to the water, but I prefer to add the salt later 😉
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!
Hi Tatiana! I’m so sorry, it was a mistake, it’s a stick of celery 😛 Have a nice day!
Thanks – I made the recipe and it’s perfect! I’m obsessed.
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I’m so glad you liked it! 😀
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.
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Hi Lisa! I’m so happy to read that! I’m glad you liked it 😉
Mmmmm this looks incredible!! And those pictures are GORGEOUS! Can’t wait to look through your site at all the yummy recipes 🙂
Hi Emilie! Thanks a lot, you’re so kind 😀 Have a nice day!!!
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.
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Hi Jon! I’m totally agree with you! Lentils are awesome! 🙂
What kind of lentils are used? Thanks.
Hi Lisa! I used Spanish Pardina lentils, but you can use any kind 🙂
Split red lentils will not work as they will turn to a mush. Green, beluga or puy lentils would work.
Hi! Thanks a lot for your comment 😀
This recipe sounds great. Who doesn’t love soba noodles?! 😉 And lentil bolognese, yumm. I like how many veggies there are, adding plenty of flavour!
Thanks a lot!!! Soba noodles are amazing 🙂
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 🙂
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Hi Vibeke! Thanks a lot for your kind words 🙂 I can’t eat mushrooms, but they’re so nutritious!
How long should the Red wine cook of the alcohol?
This dish looks beyond delicious! I can’t wait to try it!
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I hope you like it Sally 😉 Have a nice day!