“Mummy, mummy, put this on your blog!”
So spake Kipper, after trying this deliciously hearty lentil pasta bake. And who was I to argue 🙂
I must admit, I was a little surprised by her reaction. I didn’t expect her to be so taken with a dish of lightly spiced, tomatoey lentils and pasta. I’d made this as a prepare-ahead dinner and my focus had largely been on ease and nutrition, rather than on making a super-tasty, massively appealing dish. Apparently though, you can have both. What luck!
I think the trick was putting olives and garlic into the sauce. Kipper LOVES olives, and is also quite keen on garlic, and I expect these things helped her to overlook the fact that she’s not a big fan of lentils, and won’t eat tomatoes at all (unless heavily disguised, as in this case, heh heh).
It’s also possible that because this was a Monday night dinner, and she’d come home from her dance class ravening, that she would have eaten whatever was put in front of her. Who knows?
Mind you, I quite enjoyed it, and even DH ate a big portion of yummy lentil pasta. The sauce is very tasty and the whole dish warms you up from the inside. Just what’s required at the moment. Be extra-generous with the cheese if you want to make it really indulgent.
As I said, this tomato & lentil pasta bake was made in advance and then left in the oven with the timer set, so we returned from dancing to a hot, delicious, dinner. The house smelled amazing when we opened the front door – I love it when that happens 🙂
I used dried lentils and cooked them separately before making the rest of the bake, but you could just as easily use ready-prepared tinned or frozen ones. It makes the cooking time a bit shorter, but it’s not exactly hard work to leave them alone while they boil, and then drain them.
We ate three generous portions for dinner, and I had the leftovers for lunch next day. Serves 4.
- 75g small green lentils (raw)
- 1 small onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 15 pitted black olives, sliced
- 0.25 tsp crushed chilli
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 175-200g short pasta
- 65g grated cheddar cheese
- Rinse the lentils. Place in a saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 45 minutes. Drain.
- Meanwhile, peel and slice the onion. Peel and crush the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan and cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, olives and chilli to the pan. Mix well, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook the pasta in boiling water according to the directions on the packet. Drain.
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Combine the cooked lentils, tomato sauce, and cooked pasta, and mix well. Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden. Serve at once.
- You can substitute 200g cooked green lentils for the dried lentils. Don't boil them, just add to the sauce with the pasta.
Mmmm, another dinner by you which I’m eager to try out. If I ate at your house I’d be satisfied every night I think!
🙂
Drop by any time! I love an appreciative audience.