The ideal complement to your holiday table is this French’s fried onion and cream of mushroom soup-based Campbell’s green bean casserole. Add 1/2 cup of red peppers, chopped, to the soup for a festive touch.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1 small zucchini, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup dry lentils
- 3 cups water
- 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 ½ teaspoons white sugar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic. Cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add lentils and 3 cups water to vegetables. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 45 to 60 minutes.
- Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. If necessary, add more water to keep the sauce from sticking. Be careful not to dilute; the sauce should be quite thick.
Reviews
I changed this recipe a lot to give it more flavor, but the basic idea is very tasty! I sautéed a gigantic pile of chopped garlic (I don’t count cloves, I just eyeball it until I get a big enough pile) with lemon zest and one minced dried red chili pepper. I added dried porcini mushrooms and onions. After several minutes, I added the lentils and some water. I cooked it for about 8-10 minutes until the lentils were softening up. Then I added crushed canned tomatoes, zucchini, as well as fresh spinach and arugula (they were about to go bad). I cooked everything for about 20 minutes until the lentils and zucchini were fully cooked and it had a nice flavor. I seasoned it with salt, black pepper, and mounds of dried basil and oregano as I went along. At the end I added some fresh shredded basil. Delicious! Perfect for a chilly fall day with some very al dente pasta to get some nice chewiness with the thick texture.
Agreed with the notes that adding additional spices was the way to go. Are used to basil oregano sage but no salt or pepper and it was quite good still 🙂
Delicious! 4 stars because I felt the flavor was a little lacking. I ended up adding a dash of oregano and then a couple shakes of Italian seasoning. I paired this with a serving of whole wheat rotini pasta. I will definitely be making this again!
With some adjustments this is easily one of the best meatless meals I’ve made. I sauteed the veggies together (added mushroms and a bell pepper) with 3 cloves of garlic. Seasoned additionally with oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, marjoram and fennel seed. Added in the tomato sauce and 1 cup of red wine and a tbsp brown sugar. Then I added the lentils and 2 cups water straight in the pot and cooked the whole thing for the recommended times. Came out nice and thick (like a meatsauce!) and I mixed it with small shells casserole style. Healthy, hearty, delicious!!!
What a great dish! We really enjoyed this recipe last night. My hubs was very surprised that there was no meat in the sauce. I added a spoonful of mushroom Better Than Bouillon and the wine that another reviewer mentioned. Also used an 8 oz can to tomato sauce and a 10 oz can of puree b/c that is what I had on hand. Very good and definitely a keeper.
Delicious! I made recipe for 4 servings. I was concerned about acidity but did not want to use sugar, so caramelized 1/2 yellow onion. Also chopped a carrot and added this when I sautéed the mushrooms, zucchini and garlic. Then, added the caramelized onions. Used red lentils, and 35 minutes was good for cooking. I had about 1/2 c left-over Rao’s tomato sauce and used that with 4 oz of tomato sauce. Used the 6 oz can tomato paste… and also 1/2 c cheap red wine instead of the water. Also-based on other reviewers- added Italian seasoning, dried basil leaves, and Kosher salt. I used orecchiette pasta. Sauce was thick, and sweet!!! Would definitely make again! Have enough left over for another supper!!!
This recipe is so delicious and I make it often! Sometimes I don’t add the zucchini or mushrooms and it still turns out great. I prefer it when I do it on the pressure cooker and it really speeds up the recipe. I do the lentil part for about 8-10 minutes in the instant pot, then add the tomato sauce after it’s done and let it warm and thicken for 5-10 minutes. I skip the 1/2 cup of water at the end usually too. Works great!
This is a very good base, but definitely needs some spices. It’s very filling – thick and hearty. I will make it again, with some modifications. And I will be more careful not to burn the lentils to the bottom of the pan in the last step..
Use this recipe A LOT!! i work in mining camps and it is a favourite vegetarian dish. ( non vegos love it too) My kids “smash it” whenever i make it. healthy and hearty meal.
Even Jimme liked it; very filling served on fettuccini
Nice texture but I needed more flavor. Used Beef stock instead of water and added some red wine, oregano, and thyme to give it a little zip! Will make again for sure!
This was super bland! There are no seasonings at all. after I added the tomato sauce and realize how tasteless it was, I ended up adding about 1 Tbsp of Italian seasoning, 1 tsp of rosemary, salt, black pepper, and some crushed red pepper. Also, when adding the tomato sauce & paste, I did not add more water. It was still pretty watery and I figured I’d just wait and see. Never needed to add more. I also agree with the reviewers that carrots would be a good addition.
I like this healthier pasta sauce better than any other pasta sauce I’ve ever had! Not often that you get both flavor and health benefits!
I followed Christine M’s directions and it was pretty good but I felt like it was missing something that I couldn’t put my finger on. I served my husband’s with Parmesan (I can’t eat cheese) and he loved the sauce so maybe that was it. I used red lentils and cooked them for only 25 minutes because they were starting to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Wish I had read the comments before making this recipe. It needs some seasonning (oregano, basilic, thym) because mine came out bland. Next time I will also add vegetable stock powder after the lentils are cooked (in case the salt prevents the lentils to soften). Celery and carrots would add flavor as well. And also like other have mentionned, lentils are cooked in less time than what is mentionned in the recipe.
Excellent one. Will tolerate variations and would still be awesome.
I’m on the fence about this one. I added a lot more seasoning, and it was still kind of tasteless. Wanted this to be good so bad. Always looking to eat more lentils. Even used chicken broth instead of water. May give it one more try.
A bit bland so I added some ClubHouse Roasted Garlic and Pepper Seasoning and CH Vegetable seasoning. Didn’t take as long to cook as the recipe called for but we were using red lentils which I think cook a bit faster. Added some shrimp too which was a nice addition and we ate as a stew rather than as a pasta sauce. After all these modifications it was delicious.
This was pretty good! I added more veggies and spices and didn’t add the water. A great meatless dish!
I followed the recipe as written but added about 1/2 pound Italian sweet turkey sausage (cooked) and also added a can of mild Rotel (omitting the water) when adding the tomato sauce and paste. Also added 1/2 of a red bell pepper (chopped) to the veggies (mushrooms, garlic and zucchini). Took it from 4 1/2 stars to 5!!! Loved it as has everyone I’ve served it to!!
This recipe was very tasty!! I added matchstick carrots, used only 1 tsp sugar, and also added a can of italian seasoned diced tomatoes (drained). I am thinking of adding fresh spinach and red and yellow bell peppers next time. was delicious! thank you!!