A Meal That Brian Really Liked: Spinach Lentil Ragout Over Pasta

In case you don't know, I like lentils. I've extolled their virtues before so I won't do that now, but that's why this recipe caught my attention. We have some form of beans usually twice a week. This was a good change from classic beans and rice because not only does it have lentils, my favorite legume, it has vegetables, lots of them, and it has pasta instead of rice, although you could easily serve the ragout over rice.  The original recipe is from a meatless cookbook, but I found it on this website and changed it up a little.

Spinach Lentil Ragout Over Pasta

1/4 t cinnamon

1/2 cup dried brown or green lentils

8 oz ziti, penne, or similar pasta

1 T olive oil

1/4 c diced onion

1 medium-size carrot, peeled and diced

1/4 cup chicken stock or broth (or water with bouillon)

1/2 t Italian seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp cayenne
4 cups spinach, washed thoroughly, stems removed and finely chopped, or 1/2 bag frozen spinach

Ground black pepper

Salt

Mozzarella cheese

Cook lentils in water, at least a cup, with cinnamon 35-40 minutes or until tender. Drain if needed. Meanwhile, saute onion and carrot (you could add celery, but I sure didn't) in oil until tender, 5-7 minutes. Add chicken stock to deglaze pan. Add seasonings and tomatoes. Let simmer to reduce. Meanwhile, cook pasta in another pan. Add spinach to the vegetable mixture and cook until wilted. Stir in lentils and cayenne. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta, or mix in the pasta. Top with mozzarella cheese.

Too bad I didn't take a picture because it was a very pretty dish, but this post is more of a way for me to document the recipe so I know where it is and what changes I made. Brian really liked it and said his family would like it. I'm not sure why; something about it being like baked ziti. I liked it too, but it gave me terrible heartburn, so that dampened my enthusiasm. After baby brother is born, I will definitely make it again. The one downside is that it uses three (3) pans, and that is a lot. Here is my advice: only make this meal when your husband is going to do the dishes that night.