Hearty Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese
This version uses and lentils and aubergine and walnuts. Triple threat! I’ve made quite a few lentil bologneses so far, but they all seemed to miss a bit of ‘bite’. By combining a few more ingredients, you get a dish where you don’t even miss the mince.
Hearty Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
- 160 gram spaghetti
- 1 aubergine
- 400 gram canned lentils
- 1 onion
- 3 gloves garlic
- 2 handfuls of walnuts
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 mushroom bouillon cube
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Boil a pot of water and add the spaghetti. Cook for 10 minutes and drain.
- In the meantime, peel the aubergine and slice in small cubes. Put everything on a plate and heavily salt the aubergine. And by heavily, I really mean heavily. The salt will draw the moisture out and change the texture. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Chop the onion. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onion. Saute for 5 minutes. Then add the pressed or finely chopped garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.
- Use a paper towel to remove most of the salt and moisture from the aubergine. Add the cubes to pan. Stir well and bake for 5 minutes.
- Roughly chop the walnuts. Add the tomato puree to the pan and stir well, bake for a few minutes so it loses some of its sourness. Then add in the lentils, walnuts, the crumbled bouillon cube and 150 ml of water. Give everything a good stir, and cook for a good 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally and add a splash of water if it cooks dry.
- Finish the sauce with some more salt, black pepper and sugar. Serve with spaghetti.