Lentil bolognese.
A few months back I purchased an Instant Pot for a large food/chef job. I’ve been creating & testing many recipes out in this amazing contraption and love it more each time. This time I wanted to create a nice Bolognese sauce incorporating a vegan protein (and no oils) for both my client and my family. It turned out so beautifully! Packed with veggies, protein from the lentils and a wonderful flavor. Plus the cooking time was literally minutes. Perfect weeknight dish. I also love dipping my baked potato fries in the sauce. We paired this up with a gluten free pasta I purchased at Eataly linked here. It was incredible!
Ingredients:
1 cup of Beluga black lentils, washed
1 -28 oz. can of fire roasted chopped tomatoes
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, diced
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
4 cups of water
2 tablespoons of Italian seasonings, dry
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar – better quality for finishing
Method:
Into your Instant Pot liner, add all of your ingredients through red pepper flakes. Give that a good stir to incorporate all of the ingredients. Place in your Instant Pot, close the steam release knob and set to manual for 15 minutes. When it’s done cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for the next 10 minutes. Once you open the top, add a drizzle of balsamic and stir. Taste test for seasoning/salt preference. I used about a 1/4 cup of balsamic and two good pinches of salt prior to serving. Serve over your favorite pasta.
Post cooking:
Viola!
I’ve been working hard to get my training and eating back in gear in preparation for running shortly. Here is what I have done so far this week. I’ve been training 6 days a week for cardio with 2-3 days of weights/balancing etc. 1 rest day (Saturday).
Sunday: 24 trail cycling
Monday: 65 elliptical, 45m treadmill, abs and legs
Stay tuned for training updates. Also, if you have a snapchat account please check me out (kneadtocook) for my training regimes and meals with calories. Have a great day!
— Knead to Cook
YUM!! What size is the can of tomato paste?
Hi Tracey, Sorry, the little can (sorry not home to reference the ounce size). ox
It’s okay, wasn’t sure s I see 4 & 6oz available at my supermarket.
Sorry to bother you again, but I want to make this for dinner tonight. How many servings did you get out of this? Just want to make sure I make enough pasta! 🙂
How long long should this cook in a traditional crock pot?
I haven’t done this recipe in a slow cooker. If you use pre-cooked lentils, I would only say 3-4 hours on low to develop the flavors. ox
This looks delicious! I don’t have black lentils on hand. Would other colored lentils work? Thank you!
It’s delicious! I used 2 cups of water instead of 4 and cooked for 21 min. just to make sure the lentils were cooked.
I liked the balsamic in this recipe. ((o;
Glad you loved it!! It’s a favorite in our house for sure 🙂 oxo
Hi,
Do you have the nutrition info or calorie count for this recipe? It’s great and I’d like to add it to MyFitnessPal.
Thx
I don’t have it but I’m working to add it to each of my recipes going forward. 🙂 Stay tuned. Robin
Hi there,
Thanks for this recipe, my wife is vegetarian and I have been trying to find some main dish ideas for her using our Instant Pot so appreciate your post! Quick question…your sauce seems pretty thick like a ragu, when I made it it was pretty watery and turned out more like a lentil soup. Anything I am doing wrong? It released steam naturally after it was cooking but when I turned the dial to vent the lid a BUNCH of steam came out still.
Interesting. I would suggest reducing the liquid to 3 cups to see if that helps. Mine, as you can see from the pics, was thick but I’m venturing and learning with my instant pot so my guess is start there. Best of luck on your dietary pursuits. 🙂
Hi,
What size instant pot was this made in? I have a 6 quart. Am nervous as this is my first one and never used so would like to know if need to alter quantities. Also, trying to reduce meat intake so looking forward to this. thanks
Lisa
I have the 8 qt. I have plenty of room to the top so I would just adjust the liquid if necessary but I doubt you’ll be filled.
Fear not, it is safe! ox
Has anyone added kale or spinach to this?
I haven’t but spinach (baby) would be good. I keep my sauce pretty traditional but that would be an awesome addition! Thank you for the suggestion. Robin
How many servings does this recipe make?
Oh I’m sadly so bad at this. I would estimate 8. 🙂
Did you use this on the low pressure or the high pressure setting? Thanks!
I use the manual setting on my IP. There is no high or low setting.
Hi
What size is tomato paste can?
Thanks
6 ounce. Sorry about that, just updated.
Fab thanks!
My pleasure. oxo
Hi! I’m wanting to give this a try but all I have on hand is green lentils. Will they work in this recipe as well?
Green lentils should work nicely as they are a bit firmer once cooked. 🙂
this is absolutely delicious!
in my opinion 4 cups of water is too much ( I needed to saute everything for 15 more minutes ), but after the sauce thickened the taste was perfect!
thanks for a great recipe!
Glad you liked it 🙂
I used green lentils for this and only 3 cups of water. Pressure cooker on high for 20mins then waited 12 mins before I open the vent. Came out perfectly. I just adjusted seasonings after. My husband loved it!
Fantastic!!