Lentil Bolognese with Pappardelle Pasta

Ceramic bowl with fork twisted with pasta noodles with red lentil sauce over top of noodles.

Lentil Bolognese with Pappardelle Pasta

This lentil bolognese is a delicious spin on a classic "meat sauce". It's super filling and loaded with so many hearty vegetables!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword lentil bolognese, lentil ragu, vegetable bolognese

Freezer Friendly Yes

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 473kcal

Author Bethany Kramer

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 large carrot
1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup cooked lentils (see notes for directions)
1 24 oz jar pasta sauce
dried pappardelle pasta noodles
fresh basil
salt & black pepper to taste

Instructions

Prepare vegetables: First, remove skin from onion and dice in very small pieces. Mince garlic cloves. Cut mushrooms and carrots into small diced pieces.
Cook onions: In a large sauce pan on medium heat, sauté onions in oil for 2-3 minutes until soft. Stir in minced garlic for last minute.
Add additional veggies: add chopped carrots to cooked onions & garlic. Cook for about 4-5 minutes. Then add chopped mushrooms with pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 additional minutes.
The sauce & lentils: Add pasta sauce and cooked lentils to vegetables. Stir and sit heat on low/warm while you prepare pasta.
Cook the pasta: Bring pot of well salted water to a boil. Cook pasta as instructed or until pasta is al dente and has a "bite" to it. Drain pasta - I usually leave a little bit of pasta water in with the noodles so they don't dry up.
Serve it up: Add a few scoops of sauce to pot with pasta and toss together. Serve with extra lentil bolognese sauce, chopped fresh basil, black pepper, and fresh parmesan if desired.

Notes

How to cook lentils: First, rinse lentils. Boil 3 cups of water with generous pinch of salt. Add 1 cup green lentils to boiling water and stir, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 12-15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Test the texture of the lentils towards the end of your cook time - the texture should have a bite and not be soft/mushy.

Generously salt pasta water: whenever making pasta, it's always important to generously salt your pasta water to get the most flavor out of your noodles. I usually eye-ball the amount of salt I use, but you can season with about 1-2 teaspoons of salt (this also depends on how big your pot of water is).

Additional pasta noodles you can use: instead of pappardelle you can use tagliatelle, rigatoni, penne, rotini, or fusilli noodles. You can also make it gluten free by using chickpea pasta noodles!

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