Spaghetti & lentil bolognaise

I like the addition of lentil to stretch this out as well as adding extra fibre. The good thing about using red lentils is that they break down and you don't even know they are in there! You decide if that is a good thing or not! I like to double this and freeze half of it. If you make double, 1 batch is 1.5kg in weight.(3 kg's altogether)

Serves 6

Ingredients

600g lean mince

1 brown onion, chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic or as much as you like, minced

150g red lentils

2 ½ cups of beef stock

210g tomato paste

2 tsp each of dried basil and oregano

Method

In a large pot heat a little oil and fry off your onion and garlic for 2 minutes, then add your mince and cook until it has changed color. Then add your tomato paste, lentils, stock and herbs and simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are nice and soft. Add more water or stock if needed. Serve with cooked spaghetti and parmesan cheese plus salad or veg.

For 6 portions I cooked 300g spaghetti in boiling salted water.

Stats- including 10g parmesan cheese (164 kJ) and 50g raw weight or 100g cooked weight spaghetti

Each portion should be around 250g.

1963 kJ

51g carbs

9 g fat

40g protein

Curried red lentil soup

Trying to increase my legume intake and I am finding that you can eat a smaller amount of calories yet be so full. 

I have not been able to eat much of it because it's so filling, so good for managing your appetite:)
I think lentils are quite underutilised which is a shame as lentils are high fibre, packed with nutrients and dirt cheap and that's why I am loving them! Anyone else??

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 cup of dried red lentils

1 brown onion, finely chopped

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 carrots, small dice

3 stalk celery, diced

3 bay leaves

1 x 400g can tomatoes

Enough chicken of vegetable stock to add to the tomatoes to make 1200ml liquid altogether. You can also use come coconut milk as some of the liquid.

This amount of liquid will yield a very thick casserole style soup, you can adjust the consistency when it’s cooked. I added about 200 ml of extra liquid at the end.

For the curry bit this is pretty flexible you can use any Thai or Indian style paste or I used a mild curry powder. Use as much or as little as you like anywhere from 1-2 tbsp, up to you! Just add a little, taste and add more as needed.

Method

In a large pot heat some olive oil and fry off your onion, garlic, celery, and carrot for 1-2 minutes until softened. Then add your curry powder/paste and fry a further few seconds until it smells good! Then add stock, tomatoes, bay leaves and lentils. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes covered. Check soup and make sure everything is tender. Season with salt and pepper. If you like you can blend this soup.

For the bread, using small wholemeal pita breads, brush over some garlic butter/olive oil and sprinkle with either pizza cheese or grated parmesan cheese and bake in a hot oven for 4-5 minutes.

Lentil and vegetable soup

Lentils have 9g protein per 100g cooked lentils so are a great vegetable based protein. 8g fibre, 3.3 mg iron and 1.3 mg of zinc.

They are also an excellent source of molybdenum and folate and very good source of copper, phosphorus and manganese.

Ingredients

4 cloves of garlic

1 onion

3 stalks of celery

2 carrots

1-2 zucchinis

¼ of a small cabbage

3-4 bay leaves

1300 ml vegetable or chicken broth

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1 cup of lentils. I used ½ cup each of red lentils and French lentils. Near the soup section at the supermarket. Very cheap!

2-3 slices of bacon or pancetta, prosciutto (opt)

Method

Using a grater attachment on a food processor grate all your vegetables, or pulse with the food processor blade, until small. Or chop small by hand. I like small so my kids won’t be able to pick out bits.

If using bacon, fry off in a large pot in some olive oil, then add everything else. Simmer covered for 30-40 minutes or until the French lentils are soft. Take out the bay leaves if you can find them.