Everyone knows the classic spaghetti Bolognese. The Italian classic comfort food with, among other things, tomatoes, carrots and minced meat. But what if you don't have minced meat at home? Or if you are vegetarian? Then red lentils are the alternative. This vegetarian red lentil Bolognese is super tasty and ready quickly. A perfect alternative in the evening, after a busy working day. And I always have red lentils in my house these days. You can store them well and keep them a long time.
Vegetarian red lentil Bolognese
Ingredients
- 250 gram tagliatelle preferably fresh
- 125 gram red lentils
- 2 carrots
- 400 gram diced tomatoes
- 150 ml water
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 red chili pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 spring onion
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- pepper
- salt
- chili flakes optional
Instructions
The preparations
- Peel the carrot and cut it in half lengthwise. Halve the two pieces again lengthwise, so that you have four quarters of carrot. Then cut them into small pieces.
- Finely chop the onion, the garlic, and the red pepper (remove seeds).
- Keep the white and green parts of the spring onion separate, after you've chopped those too.
Making the Bolognese
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the onion, garlic, red pepper and white part of the spring onion for a short time over a high heat.
- Then add the red lentils and the chopped carrots. Stir fry for two minutes.
- Then it's time to add the water and the can of diced tomatoes.
- Bring everything back to a boil and then reduce the heat. Let it simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on.
- Meanwhile, add the spices: paprika, pepper, salt. You can also add chili flakes, cayenne pepper or other herbs to taste. Maybe some broth too. We want our Bolognese to taste well.
The tagliatelle (or similar pasta)
- While the Bolognese is simmering and cooking, you have time to cook the pasta as indicated on the package.
Serving
- Arrange the pasta in deep plates. Then add the red lentil Bolognese and finish with the finely chopped green wedges of the spring onion.
Nutrition
About vegetarian red lentil Bolognese
Do you have little time and energy to spend a long time in the kitchen after a busy working day? But still you want something tasty and healthy on your plate? Then this vegetarian red lentil Bolognese is definitely recommended. This vegetarian pasta will end up on your plate in less than half an hour.
The preparations
The preparatory work mainly consists of cutting the vegetables. We start with the carrots. We peel them and then halve them lengthwise. If you have large carrots, you may cut them a second time lengthwise. So you have four quarter carrots. And now you can chop small pieces of them.
Next follow onion, garlic and optionally a red chili pepper. We also cut those finely and remove the seeds from the red chili pepper.
Finally, we finely chop the spring onion. We keep the white and the green parts separate. This because we will add the lower white parts to the Bolognese. The green parts on the other hand will be used at the end for the finishing touch.
The vegetarian Bolognese sauce
To make the sauce, first of all we heat some oil in a pot. Then we fry the onion, garlic, the red chili pepper and the white parts of the spring onion for a few minutes.
Then we add the lentils and the chopped carrots. We stir-fry them for a couple of minutes. You don't want them to burn. Now extinguish everything with water and the chopped tomatoes. When everything is back to a boil, we reduce the heat. With the lid on the pot, the Bolognese can now simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir occasionally and then add more spices to flavor the sauce. Here you can of course vary according to your own taste. Paprika powder, chili flakes, pepper and some salt (not too much) are standard with me. You can also add some broth if you want. Or other spices to taste. Dare to follow your heart and not the instructions!
The tagliatelle
While the Bolognese is simmering, you can prepare the pasta. Cook it as indicated on the package. I like to use fresh tagliatelle. It's tastier and faster to prepare. Because fresh pasta only needs a minute of two until it is ready. Which is also a small saving on energy.
You can of course take any kind of pasta. But for this vegetarian red lentil Bolognese I recommend a long type. So that the sauce sticks well to it. Genre spaghetti, tagliatelle, linguine.
Serving vegetarian red lentil Bolognese
This vegetarian red lentil Bolognese can be served in different ways. Classically, as done here, you serve the pasta onto a deep plate. Then spread the vegetarian red lentil Bolognese over it and finish the dish with the green pieces of spring onion.
Another option is to mix the vegetarian Bolognese and pasta together first. And then serve and finish with the green spring onion. This is usually my option with the leftovers for the next day.
More surprising.vegetarian
I try to live on a very varied diet. With or without meat. A varied menu is healthy, without excess or undercut in either direction. But just like all other products, meat is also rising sharply in price. Perhaps even more than proportional. That is why a vegetarian meal is also not unhealthy for the wallet. Find some more inspiration in these articles:
- Banana peel curry.
- Easy vegetarian fennel curry.
- Yellow-green tortellini lasagne.
- Eggplant con chili.
- African peanut stew.
On our category page you may find a full overview of all our vegetarian delights.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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