Creamy Lentil Tomato Pasta

Servings: 4 · Prep: 8 min · Cook: 45 min · Total: 53 min

Ingredients

• 12 oz penne pasta
• 1 cup dry red lentils
• 1 jar vegan marinara sauce
• 1 can canned diced tomatoes
• 5 oz baby spinach
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Equipment

Cutting Board; Large pot; Colander; Chef’s knife; Measuring cups and spoons; Wooden spoon; Large deep skillet; Fine-mesh sieve; cutting board; large pot; colander; chef’s knife; measuring cups and spoons; wooden spoon; large deep skillet; fine-mesh sieve

Steps

1. Boil water and rinse lentils. Start heating a large pot of water for the pasta and rinse the red lentils in a fine-mesh sieve. Keep the measured salt for the sauce.
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
   • 1 cup red lentils — rinsed

   Keep pot handles turned inward while bringing water to a boil.

2. Sauté onion. Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the finely diced onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
   • 1 tablespoon olive oil
   • 1 Count yellow onion — finely diced
3. Bloom aromatics. Add garlic and Italian seasoning. Cook for 30 seconds.
   • 2 Count garlic — minced
   • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
4. Start the sauce. Stir in red lentils, marinara sauce, diced tomatoes with juices, water, and salt. Bring to a simmer.
   • 1 cup red lentils — rinsed
   • 1 Jar marinara sauce
   • 1 can diced tomatoes — undrained
   • 1 1/2 cups Water
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. Simmer until creamy. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the lentils are very tender and the sauce is creamy. Start checking after 15–18 minutes and stir regularly. Add a little hot water from the pasta pot if the sauce thickens before the lentils soften.

   Open the skillet lid away from your face to avoid steam burns.

6. Cook and drain pasta. When the lentils are nearly tender, cook the penne until al dente, following its package timing. Reserve some pasta water before draining so you can loosen the finished sauce as needed.
   • 12 ounces penne pasta — drained

   Use caution when draining boiling pasta water.

7. Wilt spinach. Stir baby spinach into the sauce for 1 to 2 minutes, until wilted.
   • 5 ounces spinach
8. Combine pasta and sauce. Add drained penne to the sauce and stir to coat. Stir in a splash of reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce.
   • 12 ounces penne pasta — drained

https://plumtally.com/recipes/creamy-lentil-tomato-pasta-r6zcfzhccobq