This weekend promises much happiness, and that means happy cooking. This will be the first of my birthdays so far that I will have close friends traveling quite a distance to celebrate it with me, and that means one of my favorite things: a full house of people to cook for, and people I love in particular. There should be at least a mini-heap of recipes pouring out of my kitchen over the next few days...!
The visiting friends were all quite clever, and ended up on the same flight as their last leg here. While I wait to pick them up, I am cooking up dinner: the star recipe of which was actually gifted to me by one of the friends on her way here right now! Tonight is semolina pasta (spaghetti squash for my grain-free self), a mixed salad, and this heavenly pasta sauce. This is one of my favorite toppings for traditional pasta or "pasta" of any kind: full-flavored, hearty, and rich-tasting without being heavy. Pasta itself does not a meal make, so this is a great way to round off your plate by adding in some protein and vegetables. And the crockpot option is, in my opinion, the way to go here -- extras to freeze for another night, and the slow-cooking melts everything together in an even more delectable way. You can omit the oil altogether for the crockpot version as there is no need for sauteing, or add in a bit of olive oil for a touch of healthy fats if your dietary needs allow.
Lacey's Lovely Lentil Sauce
Stovetop Instructions:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium cloves garlic, crushed
3-4 Tbsp olive oil (or water)
2 red peppers, diced
1 cup red lentils
1 ½ 11g-size vegetable stock cubes
3 cups water, almost boiling
1 heaping Tbsp tomato paste
Salt & freshly ground pepper (I experimented & found green pepper to be best in this!) to taste
1. In a large frying pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil (or water for lower fat) until soft.
2. Add peppers and cook about 5 minutes on medium until peppers start to soften.
3. Stir in lentils
4. Dissolve stock cubes in hot water. Add 2 cups to the lentil mixture and stir in tomato paste very well.
5. When the liquid is just coming to a simmer, turn heat to low and put a lid on the pan. Check every 5 minutes, topping up liquid & stirring every 15 minutes or so until all the liquid has been used up and the lentils have almost broken down but it’s still sloppy.
6. Add salt & pepper to taste.
7. Serve over pasta, spaghetti squash, rice, tofu, tempeh (both tofu & tempeh are especially good when allowed to marinate overnight in this sauce), seitan, vegetables (really good with fresh fave, haricots verts, rosa bianca eggplant or baked or steamed inside ronde de nice zucchini), nut/seed loaf, fresh hearty mushrooms such as lobster or porcini; hot, cold…however & over anything really.
Crockpot instructions (yields 3x amount as above):
1 large red onion, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 dry pint baby red, orange and yellow bell peppers, diced
2 ½ plus ½ cup red lentils
4 11g-size vegetable stock cubes
8 cups water (room temp is fine)
¼ cup tomato paste (about 1 can)
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste (again green pepper is great here)
1. Add onions, garlic, peppers, 2 ½ cups lentils, stock cubes, water and tomato paste to the crock pot.
2. Turn on “low” setting.
3. Forget about it for 6 hours.
4. Uncover, stir thoroughly (it will be watery), then stir in the additional ½ cup of lentils. Leave uncovered.
5. Turn to “high” setting and allow to cook for 2 hours more, stirring whenever you remember to, until sauce has thickened and reduced by 1/3.
6. Add salt & pepper to taste
7. Serve as above.
Variation: Try substituting one-quarter of the lentils called for with beluga lentils -- they add a bit of "tooth" to the sauce, and make for a pretty, speckled presentation.
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