One-Pan Tomato & Lentil Spaghetti

ONE PAN TOMATO & LENTIL SPAGHETTI 

(Serves 2) (Adapted to be oil-free)

“Satisfying and deliciously moreish, this one-pan pasta dish is just the thing for a quick midweek dinner for the whole family. A comforting creamy tomato sauce made with passata and coconut yoghurt, a handful of fresh basil and beluga or Puy lentils for energy-fuellng protein. You can swap the spaghetti for any pasta you have in the cupboard.”

1/3 cup sherry, white wine, dry vermouth, water, or veg broth

4 cloves garlic , thinly sliced

1 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes

12.3 fl oz passata or one 15-oz can tomatoes*

One 14 oz can of lentils, drained

Handful of basil, roughly chopped

1/2 lb dried spaghetti

2 tbsp coconut yogurt or other plant-based yogurt

Pinch of salt & black pepper

*Ed. Note: Passata is an uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins. Use it if you can find it, but any kind of canned, frozen or fresh cooked tomatoes should be fine, as long as you have the right volume and amount of liquid.

1. Warm the sherry in a pot large enough to fit the spaghetti without breaking, set over medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for 4–5 minutes until just golden. 

1. Next, pour in the passata or tomatoes, lentils, ⅔ of the basil and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a vigorous bubble, then add the pasta and 1½  cups of boiling water. Give the pan a shake to ensure that the pasta is covered.

2. Cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking together, until the sauce has reduced by about 1/2 and the pasta is al dente. Add water as needed.

3. Stir in the plant yoghurt, then taste to check the seasoning and adjust as needed. 

4. To serve, divide the pasta between bowls, add salt and pepper, and scatter over the remaining basil.

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This was a Recipe Challenge recipe. I wrote:

Today I made the One-Pan Tomato & Lentil Spaghetti. I have made spaghetti a million times (well, not a million); but I have never followed a technique like this one, where you prepare the pasta sauce, then add enough boiling water to cook the pasta into the sauce. It works beautifully! It would work best with pasta sauces that are liquid-y, perhaps most tomato-based sauces. I adapted the recipe a bit as I went along—I didn’t have fresh basil so I used dried, and I also added in a couple more dried herbs while I was at it. I also thinly sliced some frozen greens and added it to this lentil spaghetti, making it more like beans & greens.

The result was great—piping hot, you don’t lose any heat from draining the pasta. I think you could adapt the recipe even further, adding things like sliced mushrooms and peppers, just making sure to add them with the garlic that you sauté at the beginning so that they get cooked properly before you add the tomatoes and pasta.

The photo may not make it look that great but this is a good recipe and a good technique to have in your toolkit, and it does save some time, which comes in handy when you are making dinner at the end of a long day!

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Deliciously Ella has a multitude of recipes, although you may have to purchase a membership if you want to sample more than a few. Ella is British, so you will find delightful Britishisms in the recipes, but for most part both metric and American measures are given, so you don’t need to convert.

An aubergine is an eggplant, a courgette is a zucchini ….

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