What do you eat?
This is the sort of thing people often ask after I tell them I’m vegan. It’s ok, there are much more annoying responses, but it’s hard to answer (well, what do you eat?) so I thought I’d start what may be an occasional series. Unfortunately I’m starting with a cliché; lentils. Lentils are not just for hippies, I promise. I got this recipe from my mum, she’s not vegetarian anymore but still thinks it’s the best way to do bolognese.
Lentil bolognese is good for cooking a big batch of, which I like doing mostly because I like big pots and ladels. When I went to Portugal for a field trip a couple of years ago, dinner each night was a set menu at one of the local restaurants. They were all very nice but not vegan-friendly at all, so after making the best of it for a couple of days I bought some stuff and made use of the kitchen while the group went for dinner. There were lots of catering-size pans and I thought some of the others would want some of my food for lunch, so I made a huge pot of lentil and chickpea curry stew. It was still cooking when they got back and I was doing my homework in the kitchen. People would wander in and immediately give the pot a stir, there’s just something about it.
I crave a bigger pot, but I have one that makes about 10 servings and I should be happy with that, so this is what I put in it:
Four medium onions
Half a bulb of garlic (cloves peeled and very coarsely chopped)
A bit of chilli (flakes, but any kind works)
Four or five bell peppers of various colours
Oil
Water
Two tins of tomatoes
Dry red lentils (err, about three cups?)
A glass or two of red wine (if you skip this you should probably add some stock or soy sauce or something)
Plenty of dried Italian herbs
Some tomato puree
A bit of salt
Fry the onion, garlic and peppers (and chilli if you’re not using powder) until soft.
Add the tinned tomatoes, lentils and plenty of water.
Simmer for about an hour until it’s mush, topping up with water so that it stays liquid enough not to stick. Add all the other ingredients while it’s simmering. Leave the tomato puree until it’s about done and then add to taste.
Serve with spaghetti or something.
Freeze the rest in single-serving takeaway boxes for when you can’t be bothered to cook.
