A Confession
I have a confession to make. You may have already guessed it from comments I’ve written in other recipes, but – my family generally doesn’t love beans. They have always gratefully eaten them, but it was a chore. And for the life of me, I don’t enjoy serving anything that doesn’t inspire some element of joy. My Lentils with Pasta came to the rescue!
Long ago, we discovered that the inherent bean and soup aversion in our household, wasn’t so much about taste as it was attitude. Dried beans served as a main course for dinner, somehow signaled in neon lights, “We’re poor!!” – rousing a sense of despair rather than delight. The crazy thing is, we’ve always had plenty of life’s necessities. I still don’t get it.
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Once we figured out that we had an attitude problem against ‘super-cheap-and-healthy’ among us, I was able to get to work creating a few dried bean recipes the family genuinely appreciated. Taking this recipe, for example, who doesn’t love a touch of cheese and Pasta, right?
Be Creative!
Lentils are an incredible resource of protein, fiber, and minerals. They’re shelf-stable- easy to store. And they’re cheap! Compared to other dried beans, lentils are super easy to cook into soups, stews, and sauces, or season as you might for any ground meat recipe. What’s not to love?!
Lentils with Pasta is Mediterranean-inspired comfort food at its best. It’s cost-efficient, and can adapt deliciously to what’s available on hand.
I encourage you to be creative! If you don’t have olive oil, use butter. If you’re plumb out of onions and garlic, try their powdered or jarred counterparts, and on it goes. You won’t come up with precisely the same texture and fresh quality. But, with an intuition for similarities, both the Lentils and the Pasta will adapt to something pleasant and nutritious.
Lentils with Pasta
Ingredients
Lentils and Pasta
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil *divided - see directions
- 2 medium Yellow or Sweet Onion diced small
- 1 tiny pinch Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 stalks Celery chopped small
- 6 cloves Fresh Garlic crushed and chopped fine
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2 quarts Vegetable or Chicken Broth
- 2 medium Dried Bay Leaves
- 2 1/2 cups or 1 pound Dried Brown or Green Lentils sorted and rinsed
- 3 medium/large Fresh Carrots grated
- 2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
- 2 teaspoons Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 5 ounces Baby Greens Any baby greens - spinach, kale, chard (no lettuces). I use Trader Joe's Power Greens.
- 1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 pound Fusilli Pasta
- Grated Parmesan Cheese to taste
Fresh Tomato Garnish (optional but highly recommended)
- 3/4 cup Fresh Heirloom or Grape Tomatoes diced small
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley chopped fine
- 1 pinch Granulated Garlic
- 1 pinch Ground Black Pepper
Instructions
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Gather ingredients. Prepare veggies and aromatics, as noted.
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In a heavy pot or dutch oven, add 2 Tbl olive oil, diced onion, celery, and crushed red pepper flakes. Saute over medium heat until translucent and beginning to brown. Turn the heat to medium-low and add garlic and thyme. Continue to saute until garlic is softening, about 2 minutes.
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In the same pan, push the onion herb mixture to the side, giving a bare spot to caramelize the tomato paste. Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil and then the tomato paste. Caramelize over medium-low heat until color changes to a dark brick red.
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Add broth, lentils, carrots, bay leaves, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Carefully bring up to a vigorous simmer over medium heat and then immediately turn down to low and maintain a simmer for 30 minutes - creating saucy lentils. Test the lentils. If consistently soft, remove from heat. Otherwise, simmer another 10 minutes.
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Add vinegar and fold in fresh baby greens. Gently mix in well. Cover, allowing greens to wilt in hot lentils with no additional heat.
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In a separate pot, cook pasta according to package directions. Prepare fresh tomato garnish while the pasta is cooking.
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Divide pasta among bowls. Top with Lentils, parmesan cheese, and tomato garnish. Enjoy!!
Recipe Notes
Leftover Lentils freeze well for another day.
For other dried bean recipes don’t miss Grammie’s Best Pinto Beans.
Same as my yellow dutch oven, but currently available in Island Spiced Red. This 4.5 quart Lodge Enameled Dutch Oven, makes for an amazing ‘Bean Pot.’
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