Lentil bolognese
Serves 4

This is a delicious recipe, full of goodness. It contains a few ingredients but is a great alternative to a typical spaghetti bolognese. It's been provided by Genevieve Mathieson, our Dietitian.  You could make a double batch and save the rest for a quick weeknight meal. 

Ingredients

Cooking oil spray (I use extra virgin olive oil spray)

I onion, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

½ capsicum, finely chopped

1 carrot grated

½ zucchini grated

1 cup baby spinach

200g (1 cup) brown lentils (I used canned lentils and washed them thoroughly)

400g canned tomatoes

250g extra lean mince

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

½ cup water

Dried or fresh herbs (I used parsley, thyme, oregano)

Pepper

300g dried spaghetti

Grated low fat cheese to serve

Method

Spray cooking oil spray in saucepan and heat, add onion, celery, capsicum, carrot, zucchini and spinach and stir over a medium heat until vegetables are soft.

Remove from heat and put aside in a small bowl.

Add mince to saucepan and cook until brown. Add lentils, tinned tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, water and tomato paste and stir. Add in cooked vegetables.

 Season with pepper and a range of dried or fresh herbs of your choice.

Bring mixture to a simmer, then cover over low to medium heat for 20 minutes.

As the bolognese is simmering, cook and drain pasta.

Serve pasta. If you're trying to lose weight, try to keep the serving to a maximum of one cup of pasta. 

Top with low fat cheese. 

Note: In this recipe you could use any vegetables you have in the house not just the ones in this recipe. Canned and frozen vegetables are also great to include.