Hearty Lentil Bolognese

Hearty lentil, walnut, and mushroom filled tomato sauce blankets a bed of pasta. This sauce is so tasty, satisfying, and filling, you can make a large batch and freeze it for future meals.

Ingredients

– 1 medium yellow onion, diced – 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped – 1/2 C of carrot, diced – 1/2 C of celery, diced – 1 C of crimini or white mushrooms, chopped or sliced – 1/2 C of red or white wine, optional – 3 C of tomatoes, diced, fresh or canned – 6 oz of tomato paste – 2 C of water – 1 tbsp of oregano – 1 tsp of thyme – 3/4 C of green or brown lentils – 1/2 C of chopped walnuts – 1 tbsp of sweetener of choice (agave, sugar, chopped date) – 1 tsp of salt – black pepper to taste – 1/2 C of fresh parsley, chopped, optional – 1/2 C of fresh basil, chopped, optional – 1/4 C of nutritional yeast, optional

Saute onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms in a bit of olive oil over medium heat, in a medium pot or wide, deep skillet, for 3-4 minutes.

When softening and lightly browning add wine if using, if not substitute water or vegetable broth, and stir well to combine. Add tomatoes and cook with lid on for 5-6 minutes over medium heat until tomatoes start to break down. Add remaining ingredients, tomato paste through lentils and bring to a gentle boil then cover and lower to a simmer.

Let cook for 20 minutes or so until lentil are soft and sauce is thickening. Add remaining ingredients walnuts through nutritional yeast. Only add walnuts at the very end of cooking, if you add them earlier and continue to cook sauce, they will turn it black.

After you add walnuts and herbs turn off heat and stir well to combine, serve over pasta of choice with steamed or sautéed veggies added in. We like to throw a few cups of broccoli, cauliflower or kale into the pasta water in the last minute of cooking and then drain all together, perfect every time! Toss pasta with sauce to coat thoroughly and serve hot. Enjoy!

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