Red Lentil Eggplant Bolognese (Vegan)
A beautiful big batch vegan bolognese sauce made with red lentils and eggplant. Protein packed and high in fibre too, this is a nutritious and delicious topping for your favourite pasta! This recipe is gluten free, dairy free and nut free.
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Servings: 8 serves
Calories: 242kcal
Equipment
- You will need a large stockpot, saucepan or even a big wok (with a lid) to make this recipe as it makes quite a lot of sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant or 2 small eggplants
- 1 brown onion
- 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots
- 2-3 cloves garlic or 2-3 tsp of crushed garlic from a jar
- 1 and 1/3 cups red lentils measured dry/uncooked
- 700 grams passata (this is one standard size passata sauce bottle in Australian supermarkets, it's around 2.5-3 cups of sauce)
- 1 can cannellini beans i.e. white beans (one standard sized can)
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp tamari or gluten free soy sauce
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp dried Italian herb mix
- salt & pepper to season
- 1-2 cups water
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables and legumes. Finely dice the onion, grate the carrot and dice the eggplant into 1cm cubes. Rinse the red lentils and set aside.
- Heat a large pan/saucepan up to a moderate-high heat and add the 2 tbsp olive oil. Saute the eggplant, carrot and onion until the vegetables are well softened and starting to brown.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further minute until the garlic smells fragrant.
- Add the passata, cup of vegetable stock, tamari, dried herbs and the red lentils. Stir everything together and reduce the heat of the stove down to a simmer. Partially cover the pan with a lid.
- Cook the pasta sauce, stirring occasionally, at a simmer for at least 20 minutes, allowing the lentils to swell and soften. Keep the lid on the pan, slightly ajar. Add water to the pasta sauce as needed as the lentils cook (estimate you will need 1-2 cups of water).
- While the sauce is cooking, drain and rinse the canned cannellini beans. Towards the end of the cooking stir in the beans and then season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Done. Serve with your favourite pasta and a leafy green salad.
Notes
*I add the tamari to this sauce as I think it helps the sauce to have a nice savoury, umami kind of flavour, which can sometimes be lacking in meat-free dishes. You don't absolutely have to add this. As an alternative you could also add half a cup of red wine, which is also super yum!
*Swap the cannellini beans for canned chickpeas, kidney beans or butter beans as you like.
*This sauce is also really nice with a generous pinch of chilli flakes in there if you like a little kick!
Have you made this recipe?I love seeing your creations! Take a photo and then tag me @nourish.everyday on Instagram!
Nutrition
Calories: 242kcal (12%) | Carbohydrates: 41g (14%) | Protein: 14g (28%) | Fat: 4g (6%) | Saturated Fat: 1g (6%) | Sodium: 523mg (23%) | Potassium: 876mg (25%) | Fiber: 16g (67%) | Sugar: 8g (9%) | Vitamin A: 2058IU (41%) | Vitamin C: 14mg (17%) | Calcium: 98mg (10%) | Iron: 6mg (33%)