Pasta with lentils is a simple and nutritious dish from peasant tradition. Most of us have memories of grandma or mom at the stove preparing it.
Each with their own techniques and favorite vegetables, for an equally delicious result.
Some prefer a sauté to start, while others do not, some add lots of vegetables, and others cook the lentils simply.
Some like to add fresh vegetables from the countryside just before removing the lentils from the heat, while others skip this step.
In short, a humble dish from peasant tradition, but one that lends itself to multiple interpretations.
I remember my granny Rosa showing me, since I was a child, her order of adding vegetables and how she cut them… all into small squares.
And I still remember her steaming pasta with lentils, freshly plated, where the small pieces of various vegetables were nicely visible. The generous addition of extra virgin olive oil, pressed from our olives, and the dish was served, ready to warm us on cold winter days.
She didn’t pass the lentils through the vegetable mill, something my mother did, to which I always asked her to add a lot so that a nice cream was created, in which the pasta could almost swim.
Getting children used to eating legumes several times a week from an early age is really important, because what is part of our experience is part of us and can be easily reclaimed at any moment in life.
Especially these days, when we rediscover how simpler and less processed foods are the real wealth of our tables, it’s essential to educate them, where possible, to give legumes, vegetables, and greens a central role in their diet.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 613.61 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 94.05 (g) of which sugars 5.80 (g)
- Proteins 30.41 (g)
- Fat 14.08 (g) of which saturated 1.65 (g)of which unsaturated 1.13 (g)
- Fibers 14.11 (g)
- Sodium 1,910.32 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 275 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 14 oz lentils (dry)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 8 cups water (warm for soaking)
- 2 oz onion (dry)
- 2 oz carrots
- 1.4 oz celery
- 2 leaves bay leaves (small)
- 4 cups water (for cooking)
- 0.8 cups tomato sauce (or peeled or chopped tomatoes)
- 1 potato (small)
- 11 oz pasta (short)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
Tools
- 1 Pan tall diameter 8.66 inches with thick bottom
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Kitchen knife
- 1 Food mill
- 1 Wooden spoon
Steps
To prepare pasta with lentils, soak the dry lentils for at least a couple of hours, or better yet, overnight.
Add a teaspoon of coarse salt and one of baking soda to the water.
After this time, rinse the lentils well under running water.
With a kitchen knife (I recommend this one), prepare a chopped mixture of onion, celery, and carrots on a cutting board.
In a pot, combine the chopped mix, lentils, tomato sauce (or peeled or chopped tomatoes), 1 small potato in cubes (for a creamier final result), and two bay leaves.
Add about 5 cups of water and cover with the lid, bring to boil.
Once boiling, skim and then salt.
Lower the heat and continue cooking, leaving a vent between the pot and lid.
In general, it is recommended to salt legumes only at the end to avoid their skins hardening. However, I’ve noticed that in this way, legumes absorb little salt and remain somewhat bland.
If more water is needed, add hot water.
Cook until the lentils are cooked but not falling apart, it will take about half an hour.
At this point, remove from heat, discard the bay leaves and pass half the lentils through a food mill.
Combine the whole lentils and the pureed ones in the pot, stir and turn the heat back on.
At boiling, add the pasta. If necessary, add hot water a little at a time.
Then lower the heat and let cook slowly, stirring very often during cooking.
If the pasta sticks, promptly remove the pot from the heat and wait a few minutes until the pasta detaches easily on its own.
For this type of preparation, it is very important to use pans with a thick bottom and not thin.
This latter characteristic greatly increases the likelihood of foods sticking and burning.
When a few minutes are left to complete cooking, adjust the salt.
The pasta should be cooked but al dente in the end, and its sauce should be thick, hence neither too dry nor too liquid.
Finish with a proper amount of extra virgin olive oil, poured directly into the pot, and stir.
Pasta with lentils is now ready. Serve immediately.
Storage
It is preferable to consume the ready pasta immediately. If you want to store it, place it in the fridge in an airtight container for one day.
Cooked lentils can be stored in the fridge, also well sealed in an airtight container, for about two days. Once cooked and cooled, they can also be frozen, if we have used all fresh ingredients.
Cooked lentils can be stored in the fridge, also well sealed in an airtight container, for about two days. Once cooked and cooled, they can also be frozen, if we have used all fresh ingredients.
Here is a selection of excellent products useful in the kitchen. Many of these have been bought and tested by myself. The list will be constantly updated.
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To view the recommended products click here.
