Mushroom and lentil ragù
This vegetarian ragù is easy to prepare and great served simply with pasta or as a layer in a lasagne. It can easily be made suitable for vegans too.
Suitable for batch cooking, this recipe can be frozen and stored for another day.
Ingredients
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 300/10½dz chestnut mushrooms, wiped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp caster sugar (optional)
- 400g tin lentils, including the liquid from the tin
- 200ml/7fl oz full-fat milk (or plant-based milk)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- freshly cooked pasta, to serve
- grated hard cheese (such as Parmesan, or a vegetarian or vegan alternative), to serve (optional)
Method
Place the onion, carrot, garlic and celery in the bowl of a food processor and blend until finely chopped. This can be done by hand, but it’s a lot quicker in a food processor.
Heat the oil in a wide saucepan or casserole, add the chopped vegetables and fry over a medium–low heat for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the mushrooms in the food processor bowl (no need to clean it). Blend until there is a fine, mince-like texture. Again, this can be done by hand, but it takes a long time and might be less convincingly like mince.
Add the mushrooms to the pan, turn up the heat a little, and season well with salt and pepper. Fry for a further 10 minutes.
Add the tomato purée, oregano, cinnamon and sugar (if using). Stir and fry for 1 minute.
Add the lentils (and the liquid too), a tin of water (400ml/14fl oz) and the milk. Bring to the boil and cover with a lid. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring only a couple of times. Remove the lid and cook for a further 10–15 minutes, until the sauce is thickened and rich. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
To serve, toss the ragù through pasta and top with cheese (if using). Alternatively, freeze in portions for future use.
Recipe Tips
This dish can also be used as the tomato sauce layer in a veggie lasagne.