Vegan Lentil Bolognese

Who did not love Spaghetti Bolognese when they were younger? Ever since I’ve tried adding lentils to my tomato sauce I won’t miss it. Honestly it’s super delicious and moreover really nutritious too.

Some of the benefits of adding lentils or legumes in general are:

• they are rich in protein,
• fiber
• and also minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc
• they are filling
• and delicious

Compared to the non-vegan version you’ll get loads of nutrients without the harmful:

• saturated fats
• cholesterol
• hormones
• antibiotics
• and other pretty nasty stuff I do not want to enlarge upon here

I’ve made this recipe several times and will give you two variations. The first will be a broccoli-zucchini-spinach sauce and the second will replace brocolli with carrots. You can also use grated zucchini and carrots instead of chopping them up in chunks. The consistency is really pleasant – even better than with zucchini in chunks!

Here’s what the broccoli version looked like:

For my vegan lentil bolognese recipe you’ll need:

• whole grain spaghetti (I use wholegrain pasta because it contains more fiber)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 zucchini
• 1 broccoli/1 large carrot
• a cup of spinach (frozen works well!)
• 1 tomato
• a cup of tomato passata (or canned tomatoes)
• 1 can of lentils
• spices (e.g. an italian herbs mix, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, paprika powder but you can also use curry powder and tumeric. I tried a curry flavour with broccoli and it was delicious!) Just play around, smell the spices and add whatever you feel would fit well 🙂

In a pan add a splash of water, garlic and spices and let it simmer for 2 minutes on medium heat. Then add (chopped or grated) zucchini and carrot or broccoli chunks. Now you can cook the pasta. Once the veggies are almost done, add spinach and tomato. After about 3 minutes you can mix in the canned tomatoes and then wash the lentils (it’s easiest if you just wash them in a kitchen sieve). Add the lentils and mix thoroughly. You can top your pasta with some fresh herbs like parsley, dill or cilantro. Add nutritional yeast if you want to. I also like to add roasted sunflower seeds for some crunchy texture. As I’ve said play around and see what you like best!

Have fun, and enjoy!

Let me know if you try and like this recipe. I’d be happy to share your creations in my story 🙂

Lots of love,

Niki (from @nutriousniki)