Lentil Bolognese Pasta 

Staff recipe from: Leslie

Most lentil pasta recipes call for red lentils for a bolognese style sauce where the lentils cook in 8 minutes but totally break down to thicken the sauce or tiny black or french green lentils for a “meatier” texture but which take 30-40 minutes to cook. I prefer brown or green lentils because they hold their shape and texture a bit better than red or yellow but still cook quickly and absorb the flavors of the sauce beautifully.

Organic brown lentils just need a bit of a rinse before cooking or you can do as I often do and soak them for 12-24 hours and let them just start to sprout. Soaking lentils, other legumes, seeds, and nuts reduces what’s called anti-nutritional factors that include tannins, pectins, oligosaccharides, and trypsin inhibitors that all bind to the good nutrients like iron and calcium and inhibit the body’s ability to absorb and use those nutrients. In layman’s terms: soaking and draining the water from your seeds, legumes, and nuts makes it easier to digest, decreases cooking time, and can make them taste so much sweeter. Pretty win-win for a passive preparatory activity if you ask me!

{images - stock photos of soaking lentils on top and walnuts below}

Passive prep time: 12-24 hours

Prep time: 10-15 minutes (however fast you chop!)

Cooking time: 25-40 minutes (depends on whether you soak your lentils first)

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup brown lentils, soaked (they will double in volume but use more if you’d like)

½ Cup finely chopped raw, soaked walnuts

1 Cup finely chopped mushrooms (any kind will do, I like oyster, shiitake or crimini)

1 rib celery, finely chopped (or sub ½ Cup celeriac)

1 medium yellow, white, or brown onion, finely chopped

1 medium or 2 small carrots, finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced (smaller than a fine dice or chop)

Salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, and any other herbs you enjoy

2 tablespoons Olive oil

Veggie stock

Dry red wine

16 ounces (1 pint) Crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce 

Optional tomato paste

Kale - 3-4 leaves sliced in ribbons

Cooked pasta or polenta - both are excellent vehicles for bolognese sauce!

Shaved or grated parmesan or other hard, salty cheese 

{Images from @AmandaPhotographic: garlic from Deschutes Canyon Garlic, shiitake mushrooms from Mycological Products, and celeriac from Groundwork Organics}

Process:

Prep all your ingredients for the sauce first. This can all be done a day or two ahead of time if you’d like, just store chopped veggies in an airtight container until you’re ready to start cooking. Note that ingredients pulled from the fridge and dumped into a hot pan will drastically reduce the heat of the pan and slow cooking.

Optional soaking:

To soak lentils and nuts, I like to give it a full day if I can. This is all passive time though, no effort, just remember to check on them!

Lentils - Lentils only need 1-2 hours to plump up and release the anti-nutritional factors mentioned above. I usually take lentils to the point where they just start to sprout but this isn’t necessary, just a preference.

Measure 1 Cup lentils into a bowl and cover with water. Let sit for up to 12 hours. Drain, rinse, and recover with water for another 12 hours if desired.

Walnuts - I like to do a big batch all at one time so I can dry them in the oven or a dehydrator for snacking on later. Walnuts are amazingly sweet after soaking. You’ll be surprised at the change in flavor once you compare a raw nut to a soaked and dried nut to a store-bought roasted nut! Walnuts actually require a minimum of 7 hours soaking to pull out all the tannins, etc.

Just add nuts to a bowl, cover with a generous amount of water and let sit for at least 7 hours. I usually go for the full 24 hours just so I don't have to think about it much. Soak 8-12 hours then drain and recover with water for another 8-12 hours, drain and use.

For use in this recipe, drying isn’t necessary, just let about ½ Cup drain on a tea towel before chopping.

For the Sauce:

1. Chop all your veggies, walnuts, mushrooms, and set aside. Trim the ends of your kale stems, slice up the middle of the rib, stack the halved leaves, and slice into ribbons and set aside.
2. Heat a pot over medium heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil just starts to shimmer, add your onion, carrot, and celery or celeriac and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion just starts to turn translucent. Add your garlic, mushrooms, and a generous pinch of salt, stir, and let cook until everything just starts to caramelize.. 
3. Add walnuts and 1-2 tablespoons of tomato paste if using, stir, and cook another 2 minutes. The tomato paste should start to darken but not burn. 
4. Deglaze the pot with up to ½ Cup dry red wine and stir. Add 2 Cups veggie stock and 16 oz of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce and stir. I usually have some frozen or canned tomato sauce leftover from over-ripe summer heirlooms but use whatever you have handy! Let simmer for 10-15 minutes to let the flavors of the sauce come together.
5. Add herbs of choice (both dried and fresh work) and some freshly ground black pepper. If using rosemary, I like to leave it on the stem and throw the whole sprig in to be removed before eating.
6. Add your lentils and, if needed, enough veggie stock to cover all the lentils with about ¼ inch of liquid. Let simmer for 12-15 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.

You’ll only need 12-15 minutes of cooking time for your lentils if you’ve pre-soaked them. If you choose to skip this step, they should be done in 25-30 minutes but you’ll need to use significantly more water or veggie stock.

While the lentils cook, prep your pasta or polenta. I really like the spelt flour fusilli pasta from Camas Country Mill with a hearty bolognese.

{Organic spelt flour fusilli pasta from Camas Country Mill}

Check the lentils for your preferred doneness (some folks like them with a bit of bite like me, but some of you may want them to get softer). Taste and adjust salt and other seasonings to your liking. If the lentils aren’t quite done and the liquid is getting low, add a bit more stock and continue to simmer. 

Now is also a great time to add your ribbons of kale. This is totally optional, I just like to incorporate greens into most of my meals. You could also blanch these in your pasta water or crisp them in the oven and serve on top of the pasta.

Serve tossed with pasta or on top of polenta. Top with kale and cheese and enjoy!

This is definitely one of those dishes that tastes even better leftover: the sauce deepens in flavor and if you had it with pasta one night, it becomes a totally different dish on top of polenta or with a simple piece of toast the next night.