Veggie lentil spaghetti bolognese

I can honestly say that my kids like this just as much as they do a meat spag bol. It is SO good, SO healthy, SO cheap. My husband, whilst not saying out loud “Please don’t cook that for dinner” just wasn’t seeming, facially, all that excited about the prospect of a veggie lentil spaghetti bolognese. I admit, it doesn’t sound that good. But seriously, it’s really nice.

Also my friend Lynette asked me for this recipe, like, ages ago – so here it is! Sorry it took me so long!

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients: 
1 tablespoon olive oil
150g red lentils
1 leek, diced finely
1 onion, diced finely
1 carrot, diced finely
About 6 mushrooms, diced (you guessed it) finely
3 cloves garlic, crushed
500g passata (you can use chopped tomatoes instead, I just prefer passata)
400ml vegetable stock
About 4 tablespoons of tomato puree
1 tablespoon of dried oregano (or dried mixed herbs)
Salt (not much, commercial stocks are very salty) and pepper

About 300g spaghetti (I cook 100g per adult, 50g per child)

To serve: 
Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions: 

1. Heat some oil in a large pan. Sweat off the vegetables and garlic until fairly soft. About 5 minutes. 
2. Add the lentils. Pour in the passata and vegetable stock. 
3. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Take the lid off for the last 10 minutes and reduce the sauce.
4. Get your pasta water boiling when you’ve put the lentil bolognese on. Cook your spaghetti in a large pan of salted, boiling water. Reserve a little pasta water before draining when al dente. 
5. Toss the lot together, adding a lick of extra virgin olive oil and seasoning to taste. 
6. Serve with huge amounts of parmesan cheese.