Here’s another vegetarian dish for the recipe collection. In this one, I’ve cooked the pasta with the sauce in the Thermomix and I’ve also added lentils to make a more filling meal. The trick with this dish is to wait for 5 minutes before serving so that the pasta can finish cooking with the heat of the sauce. I’ve learned the hard way that cooking the dish for too long results in the turning Thermomix blades break up the pasta!
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 carrots (~250 to 300g), cut into 2 cm pieces
2 zucchini (~250 to 300g), cut into 2cm pieces
6 mushrooms, halved
15g olive oil
2 x 400g cans diced tomato
40g tomato paste
20g worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried basil
60g Thermomix vegetable stock concentrate
120g green lentils, rinsed
Salt and pepper, to season
100g wholemeal penne
Grated parmesan cheese and chilli flakes (to serve)
Instructions
1. Add onion and garlic into the Thermomix bowl and chop with the measuring cup (MC) on for 3 seconds/Speed 5
2. Add carrots, zucchini and mushrooms into the Thermomix bowl and chop with the MC on for 4 seconds/Speed 6
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add oil and sauté with the MC off for 8 minutes/Varoma/Speed 1
4. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, dried herbs, stock concentrate and lentils, use the spatula to quickly mix the ingredients together and cook for 17 minutes/100C/Reverse/Speed soft with the Thermomix basket sitting on top of the lid
5. Stir sauce with the spatula, taste and add seasoning if required
6. Add pasta, stir to combine and cook for 12 minutes/100C/Reverse/Speed soft with the Thermomix basket sitting on top of the lid
7. Sit in the Thermomix for 5 minutes before serving
8. Serve with parmesan cheese and chilli flakes
Tips and Hints
1. If after step 2, there are still large pieces of vegetables in the bowl, feel free to chop for a further 1 to 2 seconds. No more than that – otherwise, the finished sauce will not have a chunky bolognaise texture
2. If you like your pasta softer, sit in the Thermomix after step 7 until the pasta reaches the desired texture
