Who wants a big bowl of this one-pot Lentil and Walnut Bolognese? Think thick tomato based sauce packed with onion, celery, carrots, tender mushrooms, lentils, and walnuts. Paired with thick flat noodles and topped with cheese. This one-pot meal is full of flavor and easy to whip up.
TIPS WHEN MAKING THIS SAUCE
- Traditional bolognese calls for wine, though I decided to skip this ingredient. If you want to add wine, I recommend using ¼ cup red wine. Pour the wine after you have cooked the carrots, onion, and celery. Make sure it has evaporated before adding the mushrooms and garlic.
- I highly recommend that you have all the ingredients prepped and ready. It is easier when making the sauce. That includes chopping up your onions, carrots, garlic, and mushrooms before cooking.
- If you are a big fan of garlic you can add additional minced garlic for a stronger garlic flavor.
- For the diced tomatoes I used a large can (28 ounces). If you are not able to find a large can you can use 2 (15 ounce) cans of tomatoes instead.
- I highly recommend that you do not skip adding the chopped walnuts to this sauce. It adds a wonderful texture to the sauce. This recipe calls for half a cup. However, if you want to add more I recommend adding and additional ¼ cup.
- To get the sauce this thick and creamy texture I blended half of the sauce using an immersion blender. If you don’t have this type of blender you can scoop half of it in a blender and pulse a couple of times. Just make sure not to overblend it.
- After you are done cooking this dish immediately take it off the stove. Keeping it on the stove will cause it to burn.
- If the sauce is too thick you can add vegetable broth to thin.
LENTILS
It is important to wash your lentils before adding them to your sauce. I like to add them to a large bowl of water then rinse them about 3 times. This will make sure that any extra dirt is removed.
Simmer your sauce for 30- 35 minutes. This will make sure that the lentils are cooked all the way through. Be sure to check them after 30 minutes. You don’t want them to be under or over cooked. Over cooked lentils will result in mushy lentils.
SUBSTITUTIONS
I wanted to share some recipe ingredients that you can swap out in case you do not have the ones I listed in your pantry.
Thick Flat Noodles – Any type of Pasta, if you are gluten-free use GF noodles
Onion – White, Yellow, or Red
Fresh Garlic – Garlic Powder
Vegetable Broth- Filtered Water
White Mushrooms- Baby Bella Mushrooms
Green Lentils- Brown Lentils
Italian Seasoning- Dried Oregano, Dried Thyme, and Dried Basil
Diced Tomatoes – Fire Roasted Tomatoes
I love topping my pasta with garnishes. In this photo I topped this pasta with cheese. Though, the toppings for this pasta are endless. Here are some other garnishes that I like to add to my pasta :
- Fresh Basil
- Fresh Thyme
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Dried Herbs
- Nutritional Yeast
This Lentil and Walnut Bolognese is:
Filling
Comforting
Family Friendly
Only Requires One-Pot
Can be made gluten-free
When you make this recipe I would love it if you would snap a photo of your food and share it with me on instagram @itsallgoodvegan. I can’t wait to see how you like it!
Lentil and Walnut Bolognese
Thick tomato based sauce packed with onion, celery, carrots, tender mushrooms, lentils, and walnuts. Paired with thick flat noodles and topped with cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 package (1 lb) of thick flat noodles, cooked according to the back of the package
- 1 tsp water, substitute with olive oil
- 1 medium onion, red or white, chopped into small pieces
- 2 celery stalks, chopped into small pieces, optional
- 2 carrots, chopped into small pieces
- 8 ounces white mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes plus the juices
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup green lentils, washed thoroughly
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Directions
- Cook your pasta according to the back of the package. Drain and set aside.
- Heat a large pot on medium heat. Add the water, carrots, onion, celery, salt, and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, vegetable broth and stir to combine.
- Combine the lentils, walnuts, and Italian seasoning to the pot. Bring sauce to a simmer, stirring frequently, until the lentils are completely cooked, about 30-35 minutes.
- Using an immersion blender blend half of the sauce. By blending half of the sauce it really makes the sauce a thick and creamy texture. Be sure not to over blend it.
- Add the pepper, nutritional yeast, and mix. Taste the sauce and add additional seasoning (salt, pepper, or italian seasoning) if needed.
- Take sauce off the heat. Divide pasta into bowls and top with sauce. Garnish with fresh basil or crushed red pepper.
- Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3 days.
- Substitute Italian seasoning with ¼ tsp of each dried thyme, dried oregano, dried rosemary, and dried basil.
- Don’t have thick flat noodles? Use anytype of pasta that you have in your pantry instead.
- Garnishes that I recommend for this pasta include, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, or nutritional yeast.
Lentil and Walnut Bolognese
It’s All Good Vegan Disclaimer
I am not a licensed nutritionist. I am simply sharing tasty vegan recipes. For nutrition advice, I recommend consulting a health professional.
IAGV will not be liable for any inaccurate or incomplete information.
Looks delicious!
Can this be frozen and reheated as well?
yes it can be
Hi Sarah, unfortunately I do recommend using tomatoes for this recipe.