The recipe

2 servingsabout 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 180 g rigatoni
  • 240 g cooked brown or green lentils, drained
  • 80 g carrot, trimmed
  • 60 g onion, peeled
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 250 g passata
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 50 to 100 ml water for the sauce
  • 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Heat salted water for the pasta. Rinse and drain the lentils. Finely dice the carrot and onion, and finely chop the garlic.
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Soften the carrot and onion over medium-low heat for about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
  3. Add the passata, oregano and an initial 50 ml water. Simmer gently for about 10 minutes until the carrot is tender, allowing longer and adding a little more water if needed.
  4. Add the lentils and simmer gently for another 5 minutes until thoroughly hot. Meanwhile, time the rigatoni according to the packet and cook al dente, reserving a cup of cooking water.
  5. Gently combine the drained rigatoni with the sauce and an initial 2 tbsp cooking water for 1 minute. Add more water if needed and season with salt and pepper.
  6. Divide between two plates, scatter over the chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Start with cooked lentils for a shorter preparation

For two portions, use 240 grams of already cooked lentils, weighed after draining. Plain brown or green lentils from a tin or jar work here; avoid products already mixed with a seasoned sauce. Rinse them briefly. They should be tender while retaining recognisable shapes. Dried lentils need their own cooking stage according to the packet, and the short timing of this recipe does not apply to them.

Split red lentils break down differently and produce a more heavily thickened sauce. They are therefore not a direct substitution with the same quantity and timing for the whole lentils used here. Choose the cooked version for this method and keep the tomato quantity moderate. Lentils, small carrot pieces and ridged pasta then remain distinct in the finished dish. Parmesan is unnecessary; parsley and a little pepper add freshness and seasoning at the end.

Get the sauce started before the pasta

Dice the carrot into pieces about three millimetres across and soften it with the onion. Larger pieces take longer to become tender. Stir the tomato paste briefly before adding passata and water. Simmer this base first and check the carrot. Only add the cooked lentils once the carrot is soft. The lentils need to become thoroughly hot without breaking down through unnecessarily long cooking.

Time the rigatoni so that the sauce is ready when the pasta reaches al dente. Reserve a cup of cooking water. Begin with two tablespoons in the pan to loosen the sauce around the pasta, adding more only as needed. If the sauce is very thin beforehand, reduce it a little without the pasta. The rigatoni should not have to overcook while you wait for excess sauce liquid to evaporate.