Natalie's Lentil Bolognese

One of the most disappointing moments of not really being a meat eater (I say ‘not really’, as I still cook and taste meat as part of my work and love of cooking), for me, is when a big bowl of Spaghetti Bolognese is put on the table.

The hearty sauce filled bubbling away on the stove for hours on end only to result in me eating either plain pasta with Parmesan, or some left overs, never feels satisfying.

Enter my Lentil Bolognese.

It’s vegan, but just as hearty and delicious as the original, meaty version. The ingredients are mostly the same as the original so it’s easy to do a big cook up of both in tandem if you have a family with varying dietary preferences like mine. And, topped with plenty of parmesan cheese, I’m never left feeling like I missed out.

Natalie’s Lentil Bolognese
Makes 6-8 generous serves.

Ingredients
- 2 Onions, diced
- Olive Oil
- 3 carrots, diced
- 15 or so button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3 heaped tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cans of cooked brown lentils, rinsed and drained. You can also use dried red lentils if you prefer, or a mix.
- 3 400gm tins of finely chopped tomatoes (I used Mutti Polpa, here).
- Fresh or dried oregano, or fresh basil (or both)
- 3-4 large bay leaves

Method

1. Place the onions, carrots and a generous glug of olive oil into a large saucepan. Cook on a medium heat until the onions are translucent.

2. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, or until they start to soften.

3. Add the garlic and stir through for 30 seconds or so, before adding the tomato paste. Stir until it’s coating most of the ingredients.

4. Add the lentils, herbs and bay leaves, then the canned tomatoes. Also add two tomato cans filled with water to the pot before bringing up to a boil.

5. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and with the lid resting just off to the side on top (allow steam out but hopefully stop splatters), cook for 1.5-2 hours, keeping an eye on it to make sure the liquid doesn’t reduce too much (just add a little more water if it starts to dry out but keep in mind your serving time - you don’t want watery bolognese in the end!).

6. Before serving, remove the bay leaves and season well with salt and pepper. If you have any fresh basil or oregano, a little added at the end is also delicious.

7. Serve on your favourite pasta and top with plenty of parmesan cheese. If you’re vegan, or have vegan guests, nutritional yeast is a delicious alternative.

Enjoy!

There would be easier ways to show you my Lentil Bolognese, but this seemed much more fun.

I love to batch freeze this bolognese into individual portions I can whip out when the rest of my family is having the meaty version. If you are going to freeze some, make sure you leave a little more liquid in it to allow it not to dry out when you cook it again out of the freezer (alternatively add some water before reheating in the pot).

I hope this gets more hearty pastas onto vegetarian tables this Winter.

Nat x

Mum's Ricotta & Pea Pasta

A lot of what I cook is heavily influenced (or a direct copy of…) something my Mum or Nunna cooked for me growing up. This delicious, simple pasta which I almost always have all of the ingredients for is one of those recipes and I make it at least once a month, especially now I have Alexander who absolutely loves it (and it works really well as a side with some penne or spirals for his little pasta-loving belly).

It does contain eggs but if eggs can’t be on the menu at your house for any reason, 'I’d add a littlestock or even cream to the ricotta to loosen it up and a whole lot more pasta water when mixing it through the pasta as an egg-free alternative.

If you can’t go a day without meat, some cooked bacon or prosciutto would work well on top, too.

Ricotta & Pea Pasta - Natalie Zee

Mum would make this often when I lived at home (which was over 12 years ago now! Crazy…). It was a kind of go-to when nothing was planned for dinner - ’I’ll just make ricotta pasta’. Now it serves as the kind of two-minute-noodles of my life, even though my hubby still likes actual two minute noodles occasionally (I can take them or leave them, I’ve never understood the fuss!).

It’s quite a heavy pasta dish which is why I don’t use as much spaghetti as I usually do, but feel free to use more.

RICOTTA & PEA PASTA
Serves 2

Ingredients;
- 120g of spaghetti (or your favourite pasta)
- 1/3 of a cup of frozen peas
- 1/3 of a cup of ricotta
- 1/3 of a cup of grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- Black pepper, to taste.

Method;
1. Cook the pasta with the peas in well salted water as per packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the egg, ricotta and parmesan with a generous amount of black pepper (the pepper is optional but particularly delicious in this dish).

3. Drain the pasta, reserving at least half a cup of the cooking water.

4. Return the pasta to the pot and stir the ricotta mixture through with a splash of pasta water. Add more pasta water if needed.

5. Serve immediately topped with extra black pepper.

Maybe this isn’t my two minute noodles, maybe it’s more my mac’n’cheese, though I do still make mac’n’cheese I have to say,

Next time you have ricotta you’re not sure what to do with, give it a go! Super delicious and much quicker than one of my favourite things ever to do with ricotta - make gnocchi (and my almost-3-year-old loves it so hopefully your kids will to!).

Nat x

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti

I can’t remember exactly where I got this flavour combination from that I’ve come to love so much, but I do know it was many, many years ago as I loved making it from the moment M and I moved into our home together (which is coming up on 12 years ago, which is crazy to think about).

With the tomatoes going crazy in my garden and the mint slowly calming down after a really bushy summer, it felt like the perfect time to share.

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

It took a while for this dinner to grow on M who has long believed anything with mint in it just ‘all tastes like mint’, (which I wholeheartedly disagree with, but I love mint!). This recipe is one made after many tweaks. I only settled on these quantities after he told me one night, with an empty bowl in front of him, ‘That wasn’t bad, it was actually nice’.

Hooray!

Alexander also loves it because he absolutely lives for tomatoes, sultanas and pasta. I’ve included a note on the bottom of how I serve it to my 2yo…

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

SULTANA, MINT AND TOMATO SPAGHETTI

Serves 3 (or 2 with left overs for lunch the next day)

Ingredients;
- Six large tomatoes cut into wedges
- One medium bulb of garlic
- A handful of fresh mint (or more, if you love mint like I do)
- 1/3 of a cup of sultanas
- 250g of spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
- 1/3-1/2 a cup of ricotta
- Salt, pepper and olive oil.

Method;
1. Preheat your oven to 160c. Place your tomatoes and whole bulb of garlic in a deep roasting pan with a generous glug of olive oil. Toss, and roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes are jammy and sweet, and the garlic bulb is soft.

2. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil and cook your spaghetti as per pack instructions.

3. Before draining the spaghetti reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking water, then add the sultanas to the pot and leave for 30 seconds before draining (this helps them heat up).

4. Add the pasta and sultanas back to the cooking pot. Cut the top off the garlic bulb and squeeze in the roasted garlic, add the tomatoes and their juices and stir through. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if it seems a little dry (I usually don’t need it with the tomato juices).

5. Plate the pasta and dollop with ricotta, tear some fresh mint on top and add salt, pepper and an extra drizzle of olive oil to serve.

How I serve this to my 2yo;

Dice fresh tomato on the plate
Stir ricotta through the pasta with some of the tomato juices and garlic
Serve sultanas separately
I always include everything we’re eating, so I put some of the large fresh mint leaves on his plate to explore and bite (which he always does!).

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

This is a recipe I’d REALLY love to hear if you try because it’s so close to my heart (I know that sounds ridiculous, but I feel like it’s a little bit of a risk every time I serve it!). Let me know on Instagram, Facebook or send me an email - natalie@nataliezee.com

I hope you love it!

Nat x

(PS. I wrote this today listening to Alexander running around the backyard with a remote control monster truck and yelling, ‘Run faster Daddy! Run faster!’. I could not imagine a better background noise!).

'MINESTRA'

I love Minestrone.  When I was a child, I am told I would eat two big bowls of it (while my little brother had to be distracted by playing with boats in a water tub because he hated all things except peanut butter sandwiches without crusts and mashed potato).  As an adult?  I do the same.

Everyone has their own minestrone recipe, and truthfully, I never do the same thing twice and believe Minestrone can be made out of the vegetables that haven't been used yet at the end of the week (I endorse this fully, less waste!), but this recipe is my ideal situation and my perfect mix.

The only 100% necessary constant for me?  Pumpkin.  And the soup MUST be cooked until the pumpkin has disintegrated to make it thick and decadent.

Yes, vegetables in soup is decadent to me.  

So here it is - my Minestrone, or, as Nonna calls it, 'Minestra'

(stay tuned for the behind the scenes snaps & styling tips at the bottom).

The best part about Minestrone?  

It's all chop-chop-chop and throw in a pot.

NATALIE'S MINESTRA

You will need;
- 1/2 a medium sized pumpkin, chopped into small-ish cubes
- 1 large white potato, diced larger than the pumpkin
- 2 sticks of celery, sliced
- 1/4 of a cabbage, shredded roughly (with a knife will do)
- 1 head of broccoli, chopped roughly (including stem)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 can of the best quality crushed tomatoes you can get
- About 150gms of pasta of your choice (my choice?  Always thin spaghetti).
- 1 can of cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- Fresh herbs (oregano or basil) or dried oregano.
- Parmesan cheese, and the rind if possible (or this is a great time to use that left over rind).

To make it;
1. Pop all of the ingredients except for the chickpeas and pasta in a pot and top with water.  Include your parmesan rind too, if you have one.

2.  Bring to the boil and then simmer - most likely for about 90 minutes, or until the pumpkin is mushy (important!).

3.  Add the chickpeas and pasta (and a little extra water, if needed, as the pasta will absorb a lot), and cook until the pasta is al dente (or, 'all dental', if my spell check is to be trusted).

4.  To serve, season to taste and top with even more parmesan cheese, grated on top.

(My Nonna likes to make it with a fresh chilli inside so the heat works through the soup, which is delicious, but the chillies I have at the moment are too hot for it!)
 

I thought it would also be fun to start sharing a few behind the scenes snaps (just from my phone, nothing fancy), with each post.  So, see below (and you're always welcome to ask me questions via Insta DM or email - natalie@nataliezee.com, and I'll do my best to answer them in future posts).

And finally, as I'm not into eating cold food, and therefore super passionate about photographing food the day after (as this was), my top tip for photographing soup the day after without having to heat it?

Mix extra water through it to get it's warmed consistency before you put it in the bowls, and once it's in the bowl, spray the top with water if anything looks a bit dry.

(I'll be sharing more tips on my newsletter over coming months - if you'd like to be included, head here).

Don't forget to tag me (@natalie.zee) or email me if you give this recipe a try, I'd love to see it & share it on my stories!

And what were the three ingredients not pictured?  Canned tomatoes, cheese rind & chickpeas!

Thanks for reading,

Nat x
 

15 MINUTE RAVIOLI / M'S WORK LUNCH

This recipe?  SO simple, that I'm not even sure it's worth posting (well, I wasn't, but here I am).  

But then you, online and offline, told me that you would never have thought of it and it WAS worth sharing, kind of like my 3-ingredient satay hack (which I will also share soon).

So here I am, back and blogging, in more of a personal style rather than a 'May put in recipe book one day' style, and I like it because I love writing and sharing and I genuinely LOVE what I do.  So in a world of 'wtf is going on with insta?', I am focusing my energy elsewhere.

Including my mailing list which will start up again this month (and you can subscribe to here).

For now?  M's lunch from this week - super, duper, simple ravioli.

 

The beautiful bowl?  Clay Bee Hive

TO MAKE THIS RAVIOLI...

You need;
- a 500g packet of your favourite ravioli (these are beef, because M rarely gets meat at home!)
- 1 cup of good-quality flavoured passata (I used Mutti 'Simply Sugo' Basil & Onion)
- 2 zucchini, roughly chopped (or peas, or any other vegetable!)
- A handful of torn fresh oregano or basil
- A handful of fresh spinach
- Parmesan or pecorino cheese (optional, but so highly recommended)

Then you simply;
- Boil the ravioli as per packet instructions, adding your zucchini/other vegetable half way through.
- Drain the pasta and put the passata/sugo in the pot with a splash of water.  Cook it for a minute or two.
- Add the pasta back into the pot with the spinach and fresh herbs and stir, on super low heat, for 1 minute or until the spinach has wilted.
- Pop into 4 containers and top with cheese.

That's it!

I love adding onion and garlic at home (just fry off on the pan quickly after the pasta is removed in a little olive oil then add everything back in), but the last thing M, or anyone else needs to do in an office, is eat garlic or onion.

And as for it not being a high-protein low-carb power lunch with quinoa and chia seeds and sweet potato only?  Well, we like pasta (and a big part of the reason I changed my name from 'Healthy Natty' is because some people thought, as a 'healthy' person, I shouldn't?).

Thanks for reading!  & be sure to share it on Insta (tag/message/send off a flare so I don't miss it and can share it!) if you give it a go.

I'll be sharing my Minestrone recipe next week, so I'd be super-honoured if you stay tuned.

Chat then,
Nat x