I truly love the holidays; making gingerbread houses with my boys, having Christmas brunch with family, cooking an extensive Christmas dinner with my dad, going to all the cookie decorating parties with the kids. I am ready though to take a break from all the indulging. Simple, nutritious, easy to prepare food is all I want now. This lentil quinoa bolognese hits the spot.
A meatless spaghetti sauce that truly resembles bolognese. This pasta sauce has great texture, is so flavorful, comforting and my kids love it! Let’s make some lentil bolognese!
How to make lentil quinoa bolognese?
prepare the lentils
I always start by cooking the lentils (and quinoa) if I don’t have any leftovers in the fridge. In stead of plain water, I prepare them in vegetable broth or bean broth so they have some flavor already. I make the broth myself, but store bought works as well of course.
Cook down the veggies
In the meantime I pulse the veggies for this lentil bolognese in a food processor before adding them to a stockpot to brown, stirring constantly to prevent the veggies from burning. I cook them for about 15 minutes. Yes, that long! Cooking them down for this long creates more depth of flavor. Don’t skip this step! It is the reason why this healthy pasta sauce tastes so good.
Add red wine!
Next I add red wine to the cooked down veggies. Red wine gives the sauce an even more incredible taste. Let the wine cook off in the pot. And don’t worry the alcohol evaporates so this is totally a kid’s meal as well!
Add the rest of the ingredients to the stockpot
Once the wine has cooked down it is time to add the lentils, tomatoes, coconut sugar, bay leaves and oregano. And again I let it all cook down. I would say at least 20-30 minutes. I’ll sometimes even let it simmer for an hour.
Blend just so slightly
I remove the bay leaves before blending the meatless bolognese with a submergible blender. Just ever so slightly though, I make sure not to over pulse; it needs texture!
Ready to serve!
I serve this lentil bolognese on top of whole wheat spaghetti, zucchini noodles or sometimes quinoa. You can also add some broth to it and turn it into a hearty soup!
This lentil bolognese has become a staple in our weekday meals. It is so good. I am sure you will enjoy it as well. It is
comforting – wholesome – full of flavor – nutrient-dense – and very delicious
This lentil bolognese is on my list of favorite weekday meals just like our fish filet in passionfruit sauce, homemade oven roasted tomato sauce on zucchini noodles, meat(less) balls and tortilla soup.
Lentil quinoa bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion (cut in 4)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 big carrots (peeled and cut in large chunks)
- 2 stalks celery (cut in large chunks)
- 4 mushrooms (I used champignons, portobello are great as well)
- 2 red bell peppers (seeds removed, cut in large chunks)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ¾ cup red wine
- 1½ cups cooked lentils (I used french lentils. I recommend not to use red lentils)
- ½ cup cooked quinoa (can be left out, but highly recommended; gives extra texture)
- 2 cups tomatoes (chopped)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp oregano
- ½ tbsp coconut sugar (or you can use brown sugar)
- ¾-1 cup water
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Serve on (optional):
- (whole wheat) spaghetti or zucchini noodles (for serving)
To garnish (optional):
- 1 handful parsley and/or basil (chopped finely)
Instructions
- Add all the veggies (onion, carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, celery) to a food processor and chop into small bits.
- Add olive oil to a heated stockpot. Add the chopped veggies and salt.
- Important step! Don't skip! Brown the vegetables in the pan for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. This will give depth of flavor.
- Add wine to the browned vegetables and cook on medium heat until the wine has evaporated.
- Once the wine has cooked down, add the lentils, quinoa, tomatoes, bay leaves, coconut sugar and oregano. Stir until well combined.
- Now turn down the heat to low and add the water (start with ¾ cup, add more later on if you think it's dry and it needs more). Cook down for another 20 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaves and, using a submergible blender, pulse ever so slightly. You don't want a smooth sauce. You want to keep a lot of texture (you can also skip this step if you like the sauce the way it is).
- Taste the sauce and add more salt or pepper if you think it needs it.
- Serve over (zucchini) noodles, (whole wheat) spaghetti (that's what I did) or even quinoa. Or add vegetable broth and turn it into a soup.
- Garnish your plate with parsley and/or basil. Enjoy your meal!
Notes
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