Lentil quinoa bolognese
A meatless spaghetti sauce that truly resembles bolognese. This pasta sauce has great texture and is so flavorful. The ultimate comfort food!
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
Nutritional information:
the information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.