Lentil Spaghetti
4 cups water
dash salt
1 cup brown or french green lentils (not red)
olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (personally, I heart Ragu)
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
herbs, to taste (basil, marjoram, oregano, thyme, chives, etc.)
cracked black pepper, to taste
pinch sugar, or to taste
small pinch tumeric
1 or 2 (8-ounce) packages whole wheat pasta (angel hair best), cooked and drained
1. Fill a small pot with water. Add a dash of salt and lentils. (The lentils can be pulverized slightly in blender beforehand, if you like, meaning the lentils will cook faster.) Bring to boil over medium-high head (second-highest setting), uncovered, stirring every few minutes, until lentils are tender (but not too mushy, if you didn't pulverize them).
2. While those cook, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry your onion until softened slightly. Add garlic and sauté for a minute or two more. Add tomato sauce and tomatoes. Turn down heat slightly. Add a splash more oil.
3. When lentils are tender, drain and add to the sauce. If the sauce seems to be drowning the lentils, cook for a little longer. If the lentils seem too thick, add some more tomato sauce.
4. Add herbs, black pepper, sugar, and tumeric. Serve over pasta (cooked via the package's instructions).
Source of recipe: This is a favorite recipe of mine.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I made this quite differently based on what I had in my pantry + what I like. First, I made 1/3 of the recipe. I used regular green lentils (I think), no olive oil, onion, garlic, tomatoes, pepper, sugar, or tumeric. I used some tomato sauce and added an italian herb mix, garlic powder, and lots of red pepper because I prefer my sauce spicy. I probably could have cooked the lentils longer, but I still liked them. It was my first time using lentils, and I now love them! :) After eating a few plain to test the tenderness, I discovered that I wouldn't even mind munching on these plain. Hurray! :)>>>