Lentil-bol

Lentil-bol

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Thursday, 28 July 2011.

Ready In: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Mel Kettle, one of my Twitter pals and a serious foodie, has given me this great recipe: "I love lentils. And I really don't cook with them often enough. And I don't know why. They are easy to cook, cheap, full of fibre and other stuff nutritionists love, low in calories, and really, really yummy!"

Mel says: "When I was a kid, mum used to always add lentils to her spag bol to add extra "goodness" and to make the mince go further. I really wasn't a lentil lover until probably my early 20s. However I did love her spag bol. Despite years of trying, I've never been able to replicate the flavour. Maybe one day..."

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
150g mushrooms, sliced
1 x 400g can of lentils, drained and rinsed
2 x 400g cans of diced tomatoes
½ cup water or red wine
dash of tabasco, optional
teaspoon or two of herbs/spices - I use chipotle spice, but you could use Italian herbs, paprika, cumin or whatever takes your fancy
240g pasta (I like spaghetti or linguine or fettucine)
parmesan cheese, for serving

Nutrition per serve

With 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese: 1,625 kJ (390 calories), 8g fat (2g saturated fat), 55g carbohydrate (8g sugars), 8g fibre and 430mg sodium.

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium-large frypan on medium heat
Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes until pale (stir so it doesn't catch)
Add the red pepper and mushroom and stir through for 2 minutes
Add the lentils, tomatoes, water/red wine, tabasco and herbs and spices, stir to combine
Lower the heat, cover the frypan and let the mixture simmer for 30-45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes or so
About 10-15 minutes before you want to eat, cook the pasta according to directions.
Serve up and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top.

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by Catherine Saxelby