If I had to eat just one meal for the rest of my life, I think this would be it! A childhood favourite was pasta and passata with dried herbs and lots of cheese, but this version is much healthier, much tastier, is meat-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and wins 1st place every time!
We all know that tomato pasta sauce is a great hiding place for veggies! Slow cooked until they just melt into an amazing, thick sauce with all the flavours oozing into one incredible tasting dish – somebody pass me a fork please!
Here’s what you will need;
- mushrooms
- brown onion
- garlic
- green lentils
- tomato passata & tomato paste
- carrots
- fresh basil
- sweet potato
- courgette
- red lentils
- salt & ground black pepper to season
The process is really simple and if you have a food processor, you can make light work of the grating!
Grating the carrots/sweet potatoes and chopping the mushrooms/onions small, enables them to break down more easily whilst cooking, leaving you with a thick, rich sauce.
Once everything is in the pan, just leave to simmer for 35-40mins until the lentils are completely cooked.
Serve with spiralised courgette and fresh basil leaves.
This recipe serves 4-6 depending on portion size. Make the full recipe and save any leftovers in the fridge or freezer for a quick meal during busy days.
Mushroom, Lentil & Vegetable Ragu with Courgetti
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 large brown onion skin removed, diced
- 4 cloves garlic skin removed, chopped finely
- 100 g mushrooms washed, chopped small
- 200 g dried red lentils rinsed
- 200 g dried green lentils rinsed
- 3 small carrots washed, grated
- 1 medium sweet potato grated
- 700 mls tomato passata
- 2 TBSP tomato paste
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves
- ground black pepper and sea salt to season
Courgetti
- 4 large courgettes spiralised
Instructions
- Begin by preparing all of the ingredients.
- In a large pan, add a dash of oil or water with the onions and cook for about 5 minutes, with a lid, until beginning to soften.
- Add the diced garlic, mushrooms and grated carrots and sweet potatoes and stir.
- Next, add the rinsed green and red lentils.
- Then add the tomato passata, tomato paste and 4 cups of water. Stir everything together, replace the lid on the pan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and leave to simmer for 30 mins. After 30mins, take a look at the ragu and add up to 2 more cups of water to thin the sauce if needed.
- Whilst the ragu is cooking, spiralise the courgettes and leave to one side.
- Once the ragu is ready, season with ground black pepper and sea salt to taste, stir through the chopped, fresh basil leaves, saving a few for serving.
- Place some of the courgetti into each serving bowl with a large spoonful or more of the ragu. Add a few fresh basil leaves and serve warm.
