Quick Mushroom And Lentil Ragu
A stay home feast!
The quickest most delicious ragu around. If you are looking to offer maximum flavour for minimum effort this recipe is for you.
This dish offers a quick and simple way to get that thick ragu sauce that normally comes from long slow cooking. Instead this recipe just takes 30 minutes and is made up of majority pantry ingredients.
I designed this ragu to work for those occasions when you can’t go out and have little time but still want to treat yourself. Why should you settle for second best when staying at home.
This recipe gives you that restaurant level ragu in 30 mins. what’s not to like.
The base sauce can also incorporate many different ingredients. So if you are running low on certain items, or have a glut of others just modify as you see fit. The base tomato, onion, garlic, wine and flour mixture will work with anything you have at home. So don’t worry if you can’t get to the shops or don’t want to wait in the queue.
When to eat
This is a recipe for all seasons, made with predominantly pantry & store cupboard ingredients.
Quick Mushroom And Lentil Ragu
This meal is around 85% less polluting than the average UK meal.
Eating this recipe will save around 2.5 KG CO2e per person.
That’s equivalent to the emissions produced driving 20.65 KM in a modern car.
How do I calculate this?Ingredients
- 250 g Chestnut Mushrooms
- 200 ml Red Wine
- 1 Large Onion
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon Plain Flour
- 1 Can Chopped Tomatoes (400g)
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Oregano
- 240 g Cooked Lentils
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 300 g Pasta
- 10 g Fresh Parsley
Instructions
- Peel and finely dice the onion and garlic. Chop the mushrooms lengthways into thin slices.
- Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over a medium heat and tip in the onion and garlic. Cook for 3 – 5 minutes until the onion are soft and see-through.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan, increase the heat and fry the mushrooms for about 3 mins, stirring occasionally. When the mushrooms have begun to soften, add the flour, oregano, cinnamon and paprika to the pan and mix to combine with the onion and mushrooms. Cook for a further minute.
- Add the tomato paste, sugar and wine. Simmer the pan contents until it has reduced and thickened.
- Once the wine has reduced, tip in the chopped tomatoes and lentils. Reduce the pan heat until the mixture is just bubbling. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. After this time the sauce should be thick and rich. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Whilst the sauce is simmering, cook your pasta in salted boiling to packet instructions. When aldente drain, reserving some of the pasta liquid. Use this to loosen your sauce if it gets too thick.
- Serve the sauce heaped on top of the pasta with chopped parsley sprinkled on top.