Pasta Lentilese—Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café

Blueberry Girl spent about three months volunteering in a Romanian orphanage last fall.  I took guardianship of her car, Pascal (the kids name their cars, and most are named for characters from Disney’s Tangled), for the duration, taking it to church once a week for exercise, but not much else.  Pascal, remarkably well-behaved in her absence, could hardly wait to see her, so instead of letting her take the shuttle from the airport to the hotel room (because she was coming in at midnight, and neither one of us would be in a condition to drive all the way back to Nevada at that hour), we opted to pick her up together. 

We traveled a day early so that I could visit Professor and Belle as well.  While Professor normally does the cooking, they had a fridge full of leftovers to go through.  I couldn’t decide what to have, so I went with both the mulligatawny stew as well as the pasta lentilese.  Now, there was nothing wrong with the mulligatawny stew, but the pasta lentilese was phenomenal.  Like, I’m-going-to-buy-a-25-lb-sack-of-lentils-at-Winco-on-the-way-home phenomenal. 

Pasta Lentilese

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white grape juice

1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes

1 can (14 oz) canned lentils, drained

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried), chopped

1 tablespoon fresh sage (or 1 teaspoon dried), chopped

Cooked pasta, to serve 4 people, with 1 cup of pasta water reserved

 

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and salt in the olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and saute 2 minutes more.  Pour in the grape juice and boil 2-3 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by ¾. 

Stir in the tomatoes, lentils, and soy sauce.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 10-12 minutes.  Stir in the herbs. 

Just before serving, stir the pasta into the sauce, adding reserved pasta water as needed to thin the sauce and pasta. 

Chef's review:  I would never have believed that lentils had any business being in a pasta sauce, and yet, here we are.  This dish was absolutely fantastic.  If I had only glanced casually at the dish, I would have assumed the lentils were hamburger.  And if I were going on taste alone, I would have assumed the lentils were hamburger.  Alas, discriminating eyes will not be fooled.  I was quite excited to prepare this myself and serve it to Aaron and the rest of the family. I didn't have a red onion, so I subbed in a yellow one, and I had to sub apple juice for grape juice as well.  I think Professor's version with the red onion and grape juice was slightly better.  Of course, I also put a little too much pasta in, so that could play a role.  But did you see that it's basically a total food storage dish?!  Gotta love it.

Family reviews:  Aaron scarfed his up, was eating out of the pan as I was cleaning the kitchen, and wanted it in his lunch the next day.  Blueberry Girl enjoyed it with Aaron and I at dinner; Buttercup, KOTPE, four-year-old Sweet Pea (Picky Eater Princess) and 16-month-old Tiger gave the leftovers two thumbs up.