Meat-Free Beluga Bolognese Recipe

Serves

Ingredients

3 Portobello mushrooms, diced
2 small carrots, diced
2 small onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
300g dried beluga lentils
500ml tomato passata or tinned tomatoes
250ml good homemade stock
½tsp dried oregano
pinch of ground cinnamon
splash of balsamic vinegar
4 tinned anchovies, finely chopped (optional)

Method

Gently sweat all the diced vegetables in the olive oil for 15 minutes on your lowest heat. This makes them deliciously sticky and sweet. You’ll need to use your biggest pot or do this in batches.

Rinse the dried lentils, then tip them into the pot along with all the remaining ingredients. (I like to parachute in a few finely chopped anchovies at this stage, but not if vegetarians are joining us for supper.) Let them party under a lid for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. They need time to socialise and get to know one another.

Taste and season if necessary.

Here are some ideas on what to do with leftovers the next night:

Snuggle onto a baked sweet potato
Cosy it up beside tacos and softly fried eggs
Serve with courgetti (zoodles)
Pop on a plate smeared with smooth hummus
Make a parsnip purée, serve with garlic yogurt

Recipe taken from Clever Batch by Susan Jane White (Gill).

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