Everyday Red Lentil Bolognese is a meaty vegetarian main without the fake meat. Simmered with dried mushrooms, lentils, red wine, tomato, & fresh herbs and piled on with mountains of soft, grated cheese.
It finally happened…just like that. The clocks changed and “dark season” is upon us. It gets dark and I literally lose track of the hours. It’s 5 pm…but it may as well be mid-night. Let’s all agree….we can’t wait for April.
Beginning right about now in the season, where the days are cold, the nights come early, and I focus almost exclusively on comfort food. That really saucy, cheesy, in a bowl, messy goodness. Just like my Buttery Pappardelle with Mushrooms and Fresh Sage , this pasta dish will make you want to curl up and watch late night TV after the kids are in bed…wrapped up in one of many couch blankets and have dinner.
Yes. That kind of dinner.
You’ve had a dinner like that.
There is no talking. There is just comfort. The comfort of, for the first time that day, feeling yourself sinking into the couch. You feel every part of your back relax and you can actually taste your food.
This is the dinner for such an occasion. The ultimate vegetarian food hug, deep winter comfort food.
This is Everyday Red lentil Bolognese.
My goal with this recipe is to create a saucy, meatless Bolognese without all that nasty fake meat and without tofu. Just clean, beautiful vegetarian eating that I can dump a bucket of grated cheese on and alongside it…. sip some lovely dry red wine.
Get meaty without the ….meat…
The way to go about this meaty goodness without fake meat or….well…meat…is mushrooms.
I know – some people love them some people hate them.
My children claim they hate mushrooms and then….they eat a whole bowl of this Bolognese.
We don’t ask questions here – we just eat.
Now – the trick here is I use half fresh mushrooms and half dried. The dried mushrooms are the oomph factor. The bunch of extra umami and texture that makes you swear your eating something deliciously carnivorous but you’re not. I particularly love dried porcini mushrooms for this dish because of their deep flavor.
Why you’ll fall in love with Everyday Red Lentil Bolognese!
I mean it. You will fall in love. You’ll will make Everyday Red Lentil Bolognese all winter long and then some because it’s a vegetarian powerhouse dish….minus all that funky fake stuff….
When initially researching a lentil Bolognese, I found a lot of recipes and I didn’t like any of them because they have a million ingredients and a million steps and I am just an easy peasey one pot gal. This is why I have categorized it as an Everyday recipe because it’s so easy (and gosh darn yummy) you can whip it up at the drop of a hat. Providing it’s not a very fast moving hat….
Everyday Red Lentil Bolognese
Equipment
- 1 5 quart pot with lid
- 1 dishtowel
- 1 knife
- 1 cutting board
- 1 measuring cup
- 1 small heat proof bowl
Ingredients
- 1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 ¼ cup warm water
- 1 ½ tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups yellow onions small chop
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt divided
- 4 oz. shitake mushrooms wiped clean, stems discarded, very small chop
- 3 inches carrot grated on a micro-plane/rasp
- 2 tablespoon fresh garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian soffritto spice blend preferably from Trader Joes, see notes
- large pinch red chili flakes (optional)
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme crushed between your fingers
- 1¼ teaspoon fresh rosemary minced
- ¼ teaspoon dry oregano crushed between your fingers
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tamari sauce sodium light preferred
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 tablespoon dry red wine
- 24 oz. jar crushed tomatoes see notes
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
- 1 cup red lentils thoroughly rinsed and drained
- 3 bay leaves
- fresh basil for serving
- Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- Place dried porcini mushrooms in a small, heatproof bowl. Pour the warm water over them and stir. Set aside.
- Heat the butter and olive oil in a 5 quart pot over medium heat until shimmering.
- Add the onions and 1/8 teaspoon of Kosher salt. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Lower the flame to medium-low and cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Cook until onions are golden with browned edges and reduced. If you taste them they should almost melt in your mouth.
- Half-way through the onions cooking, check on the dried mushrooms. They should be soft and pliable. Using your hands, carefully squeeze out the dried mushrooms and mince them with a knife.
- Fold a dishcloth into quarters so there are four layers of cloth. Drape the cloth over a bowl and carefully pour the mushroom liquid over it. Discard the sediment left in the towel and reserve the filtered mushroom liquid. Set it aside.
- Back to the pot! Add the shitake mushrooms to the pot with another 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt and cook them for about 5 minutes, until golden. Add the dried, minced porcini mushrooms and sauté for one minute.
- Add the carrot, garlic, soffritto, thyme, rosemary and oregano and cook about 40 seconds until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce, tamari sauce and stir well to incorporate.
- Add the tomato paste and stir slowly for a few seconds until fully incorporated.
- Add the red wine and stir, getting up all the lovely browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, stocks, lentils, and reserved mushroom liquid and remaining salt and bay leaves and stir well.
- Simmer the sauce for two hours. Stir often.
- Serve over pasta with fresh basil and piles of grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese.
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