Bangin’ bolognese

Updated at: Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:05:13 GMT

Step 1

FINE GRATER OR MICROPLANE. FOOD PROCESSOR. LARGE FRYING PAN. LARGE SAUCEPAN. KETTLE BOILED. First, prep the ingredients. Peel and grate the garlic. Peel and finely chop the onions. Drain and rinse the lentils. Pick and roughly chop the thyme leaves – if you’re using fresh rather than dried, set aside 1 teaspoon of the fresh leaves for garnishing.

Step 2

Blitz the walnuts in the food processor until coarsely ground. To make the lentil ragu. Heat the olive oil in the large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the onions and a pinch of salt in olive oil , stirring, for 4-5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Step 3

Add the ground walnuts, lentils, tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, red wine, chilli flakes, oregano, thyme, balsamic vinegar, yeast extract and water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent the sauce catching. It will look grey at first, but will darken as it cooks. Once the sauce has darkened in colour and thickened considerably, taste and season to perfection with salt and pepper.

Step 4

While the ragu is simmering, cook your pasta. Remove a quarter cup of the starchy pasta cooking water and reserve. Add the drained spaghetti and a splash of the pasta water to the ragu in the pan and stir through. Grate the hard cheese (if using) and chop the parsley leaves. Plate up the spaghetti and ragu, garnish with parsley (and thyme, if using fresh leaves) and serve immediately with green salad. 492 KCAL. LOW SUGAR. FULL OF FIBRE. PROTEIN PACKED.

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