A delicious tomatoey ragù perfect for pasta, and a great replacement if you're not in the mood for meat substitutes.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
350g pasta of choice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
350g mixed mushrooms (- I used a combination of closed cup, portobello and shiitake but any will work!)
1 can cooked lentils, drained
2 tsp mixed herbs
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp vegetable stock powder
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
fresh basil to garnish
Method:
1. Cook pasta as directed on packaging.
2. Sauté the onions in the oil in a large pan until softened, then add the garlic for a few minutes.
3. Once these have both cooked for a few minutes longer, add the mushrooms - these can be chopped more roughly or finely depending on preference - larger mushrooms will give a chunky sauce, very fine dicing will give a mincemeat texture. I like to use a combination of the two. Allow the mushrooms to sweat on a low heat until they have softened, reduced, and are browning a little.
4. Add the lentils, mixed herbs and tomato purée and allow to cook for a few minutes. Stir well to incorporate.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and balsamic vinegar (if you have a vegan Worcestershire sauce, a splash of this would be great here too). At this stage I tend to add a 1/2 tsp of vegetable stock powder to the empty can and fill it halfway with boiling water before stirring well and adding to the sauce for extra flavour.
6. Allow the stock and tomatoes to simmer and thicken at a low to medium heat. Once this sauce has thickened, add the sugar, salt and pepper to taste. The sugar should help round out the flavour of the canned tomatoes but is not an exact science, so tasting is important at this point.
7. Combine the cooked pasta and the ragù and garnish with fresh basil.
