Lentil & Mushroom Bolognese

Mac
Servings

5

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Cuisine

Europe

Category

Dinner

A meat-free bolognese that genuinely fools you. Chestnut mushrooms and red lentils stand in for the mince, and the trick is that a bolognese’s flavour was never really in the meat anyway, it’s in the sauce. Build that sauce right and you get all the rich, meaty depth with none of the meat. It’s the kind of thing worth cooking for meat-free month: not asking anyone to go vegetarian, just a dish you’ll enjoy enough to come back to. The work is all at the start, maturing the flavours, and then the lentils do the rest while it simmers.
Lentil & Mushroom Bolognese

Ingredients

    Fresh & Mains

    • 300g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
    • 1 onion, finely diced
    • 1 carrot, finely diced
    • 1 celery stick, finely diced
    • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
    • 250g dried red or green lentils, rinsed
    • 500g passata (one carton, a basic one is fine)
    • About 700ml vegetable stock

    Pantry Staples

    • 1 tsp Spice Masters Italian Bolognese Blend
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 2 tbsp tomato purée
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 400g spaghetti (or pasta of choice)
    • Salt and black pepper

    For garnish & serving

    • A handful of fresh basil leaves
    • Grated hard cheese, to finish (optional, it’s lovely with, but the sauce stands on its own without it)

    Directions

    1. Brown the base: Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pan. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for 7 to 8 minutes until softened and lightly browned, so the vegetables start to caramelise. This soffritto is the base of almost any good sauce or stew, and getting real colour on it is where the flavour starts, so don’t rush it. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two to take the harshness off.
    2. Cook out the mushrooms: Turn the heat up, add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes until they’ve released all their liquid and the pan is dry again, with some colour on them. This is where the meaty depth comes from. Because you’re replacing meat, this is the flavour the whole dish leans on, so give it time. Getting the moisture out now also means the lentils can soak up the sauce fully later, and it helps it freeze without going watery.
    3. Caramelise the tomato purée: Stir in the tomato purée and cook it out for a minute or two until it darkens. This is the step most people skip, and it’s a big one: caramelising the purée deepens the flavour and brings up the umami, much like blooming spices. Keep it moving so it doesn’t catch, as burnt purée turns bitter.
    4. Add the spice: Stir in the Bolognese Blend and cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Stick to the measured amount, because it’s easy to overdo it and overpower the dish, and you don’t need more than the recipe says.
    5. Build the sauce: Add the rinsed lentils, the bay leaf, the passata and about three-quarters of the stock. Keep the rest back to top up later. Stir well and bring up to the boil.
    6. Simmer: Pop a lid on, turn it down to a gentle simmer and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes so the lentils don’t stick to the bottom. Add a splash more stock any time it gets too thick, as the lentils and mushrooms keep drinking it up. You’re after it just slightly saucy, loose enough to coat pasta, not dry. Take the lentils to about 90 per cent cooked so they stay firm with a little bite rather than breaking down. That bite is what gives you the texture of mince.
    7. Cook the pasta: While the sauce simmers, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of well-salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, saving a splash of the pasta water.
    8. Serve: Season the sauce to taste. Toss the drained spaghetti through it, loosening with a splash of pasta water if needed, then finish with torn basil and a grating of hard cheese if you’re using it.

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