Lentil Bolognaise Base

It's popular, healthy and quite yummy. It's suitable for Vegans, too. It takes a bit of time to prepare and cook but you get quicker as you get used to the recipe. And, as it can be used as a base (or by itself), you can add other things to it as you go. This mixture can be used to make a lasagna dish, to fill canneloni tubes and can be used to fill savoury pancakes.

Lentil Bolognaise Base:

Ingredients:

250 g brown or green lentils
600 ml water
3 bay leaves

250 g carrots
2 large sticks celery
2 medium onions
125 g mushrooms
1 large clove garlic
3 Tbsp chopped parsley
4 Tbsp virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp tomato paste
500 ml water
1 grated cooking apple with skin on
sea salt to taste
Enough spaghetti for 4 to 6 people.

Method:

1. Put first 3 ingredients into a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes until cooked. Drain and set aside.

2. In an electric frypan (or other saucepan with a lid), heat the oil, stir in the finely chopped carrots and celery and stir until carrots are almost cooked. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft. Add the water, then the tomato paste and bring to the boil. Add mushrooms apple and parsley and simmer (with the lid on) till the liquid has almost evaporated. Add the lentils with the bay leaves removed. Mix well and leave for about 10 minutes for the flavors to mingle.

3. Serve on top of spaghetti.

NOTE: You can leave out mushrooms and parsley (or substitute them) but not the green apple. Do not substitute anything else for the apple.

Variations:

* You might like to add a 440g tin of crushed tomatoes to this to give it a bit more sauce
* If not serving for vegans, it tastes great with a little grated cheese on top
* You can add any other bite-sized pieces of vegetable to this dish. I like using corn and baby spinach leaves.

Serves: 4-6

Rating: 4.5