This healthy vegetarian ragù is packed full of vegetables and pulses. It’s hearty enough on it’s own or it can be used to make pasta sauce, pie or chilli – so very versatile.
Ingredients
- 10g dried mixed wild or dried porcini mushrooms
- Olive oil for frying
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 250g button or chestnut mushrooms, quite finely chopped
- 250ml red or white wine
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- Large pinch sugar
- 250ml vegetable stock
- 150g puy lentils, cooked according to the pack instructions
- 400g tin chickpeas, drained (I use dried and soak/batch cook/freeze them)
- 100g young leaf spinach
Steps
- Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and pour over enough freshly boiled water to cover. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, then drain.
- Heat some oil in a large, deep frying pan, then add the onions, celery, carrots and garlic with some salt. Fry over a low-medium heat, stirring often, for 10-15 minutes until the veg are soft but not coloured. Add the soaked mushrooms to the pan, along with the button/chestnut mushrooms, then turn up the heat to medium-high and stir-fry until soft.
- Turn the heat to high, then pour in the wine. Bubble until almost all the liquid has evaporated, then add the chopped tomatoes with the sugar and bubble for a few minutes
- Add the stock, cooked lentils and chickpeas, then bring back to a simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes more until it has wilted. Taste and season well, then serve with flatbreads or mash. Alternatively, try a variation, right.