Smoky Lentil & Walnut Bolognese with Crispy Roast Potatoes

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This lovely bolognese has red lentils, toasted walnuts, mushrooms and smoky flavours – packing an Unami punch. Served with crispy potatoes – yum!

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A new and pretty delicious bolognese recipe!

With red lentils, toasted walnuts, mushrooms and smokey flavours is packing an Unami punch.

Lovely and deep, it’s perfect served with crispy potatoes like I have here, but would be fab with pasta or even loaded on toast.

I drizzled with my favourite tahini dressing as I love it. I would also recommend some nut cheese or vegan cheese on top.

Some swap ideas…
You can use Puy lentils instead of red lentils (but simmer for about 10 minutes longer until tender).
No walnuts? You could use hazelnuts.
Veggies–Mushrooms work particularly well, but you can add in whatever you have–all good.

I hope you enjoy, much love. Niki xxx.

This lovely bolognese has red lentils, toasted walnuts, mushrooms and smoky flavours - packing an Unami punch. Served with crispy potatoes - yum!

Prep time: 20 minutes mins

Cook time: 1 hour hr

Ingredients

For the roast potatoes

750 g organic new potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt

For the bolognese

1 large onion chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic sliced
200 g mushrooms finely chopped
1 red peppers chopped
1/2 tsp cumin seeds or ground
1/2 tsp thyme
1.5 tablespoon smoked paprika
75 g walnuts toasted
1 carrot roughly chopped
4 sundried tomatoes chopped finely
1 can of tomatoes
100 g dried red spilt lentils rinsed
500 ml water
1 tsp harissa paste
1 tbsp tamari or soy
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
Twist black pepper

For the tahini dressing

Juice 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp tahini
50 ml water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 sea salt
Twist black pepper

For the toppings

Fresh thyme
Sea salt
Olive oil

Instructions

To roast the potatoes

Pre heat your oven to 180c.
Add the potatoes to a roasting tray (I cut some of the larger ones in half) then toss to coat them on olive oil, garlic powder & salt. Roast for approx 50- 60 minutes until crispy on the outside.

To make the bolognese

Add the olive oil & onion to a large pan and heat to a medium heat. Fry for approx 8-10 minutes until soft and browning.
Add in the garlic, spices and stir for another few minutes, then add in the chopped mushrooms and red peppers and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add the walnuts to a pan and fry toast until lightly toasted. Allow to cool a little, then add them along with the carrots and sun-dried tomatoes to a food processor and blitz to a chunky crumb.
Add the walnut mix to the pan, along with the tomatoes, lentils, water, harissa, balsamic and tamari.
Simmer for 25 minutes.
Season with salt, pepper

To make the tahini dressing

Add all the ingredients to a jar and mix to combine.

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If you recreate this recipe, tag me on Instagram:@rebelrecipes or #rebelrecipes for a chance to be featured.

More Recipes with Lentils, Walnuts, Mushrooms or Potatoes

The Ultimate Pumpkin Curry, With My Favourite Spices

Roast tomato, Crushed Potato and Pesto Salad

Mushroom Tofu Burgers with Caramelised Onions and Root Fries

Red Lentil Crepes with Charred Cabbage

Discuss this Recipe with Niki

40 Responses

Superb. The best vegan Bolognese I’ve ever had. This will be a regular feature in our house. Many thanks! 😊
Reply
1. Thanks Simon! So happy to hear that! Love, Niki xxx
  Reply
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I added some tomato puree too. Another fantastic recipe, I’ll definitely make this again.
Reply
1. Very happy you liked!
  Much love, Niki xxx
  Reply
Made this today for the second time. I decided to make a lasagne with this ragu. The texture is mi Ely with walnuts and the taste is Devine. This is my go to ragu sauce. Thank you for the recipe. I think I will invest in your recipe book
Reply
1. Wonderful
  So happy you liked it.
  Much love, Niki xxx
  Reply
Made this tonight and it was another big hit! Your smoky bolognese flavours completely replace the need to add meat, so delicious. Thanks for making my journey into being more vegan delicious and surprisingly easy!
Reply
1. Hi Vanessa!
  Very happy you liked!
  Much love, Niki xxx
  Reply
Hi! This looks delicious but I have a family member who doesn’t like “smoky” things. Can I leave out the smoked paprika? What would you recommend instead if anything? Thanks!
Reply
1. Hi Jenny
  I would just use sweet paprika
  Love
  Niki xx
  Reply
Third was such a deep flavoursome meal, thank you. The tastes lingers long after you have eaten. I added about 250 gsm of Roy’s mince which added to the rich flavours and made it go further. The tahini sauce was a hit and I added some Dijon mustard and a tsp of chilli sauce. The potatoes I cubed, parboilec and fried in olive oil adding smokey paprika and cu in seeds, very cripy;) thanks again, plentl left over for lunches next week!
James
Reply
1. Fantastic! Happy you like James!
  Niki xxx
  Reply
I made this for dinner this evening – it went down really well. Thanks Niki!
Reply
1. Hi Penny
  Thats fantastic! So happy you like xxx
  Reply
Made it twice now lovely. Had celeriac chips with it.. Thanks for the recipes
Reply
1. oh love that!
  So happy you like
  xxx
  Reply
I LOVED this recipe. So full of flavour, really delicious x
Reply
1. Hi Caroline
  Fantastic! So happy to hear
  Love
  Niki xxx
  Reply
Loved this recipe – whole family ate it as bolognese on top of pasta. I might not pulse the mushrooms so much next time as it ended up blending too much in the sauce and I would like a bit more chunks but it was a definite keeper. Thank you!
Reply
1. Hi Helene
  Brilliant, so happy you liked it.
  Much love, Niki xxx
  Reply
I had all these ingredients at the bottom of the fridge, ( including the walnuts)and I must say, it went down a storm! The flavours are Spanish and the potatoes like patatas bravas-really, really delicious. Next time, I might use the bolognese to make a lasagne ( I have some red lentil dried ‘lasagne’ sheets).
What I especially like about this fish is how nutritious it is, omega 3’s from the walnuts and complete proteins-FAB!
Reply
1. Hi Tammi
  Fantastic, so happy to hear you liked it.
  Love your lasagne idea!
  Love
  Niki xxx
  Reply
This was really good. As it’s vegetarian can I say treemendous?
Reply
1. Definitely!
  Thanks Graham
  Love
  Niki xx
  Reply
the dressing is not white, how come the pic has a white dressing please?
Reply
1. Hey
  Mine is very light brown/ white.
  Are you using very dark tahini?
  Love
  Niki xxx
  Reply
Hi Niki, I just made the bolognese and used it to stuff some aubergines. It was delicious! I’ll have the leftovers with pasta tomorrow. Thank you for all the ideas 🙂
Reply
1. Fantastic!
  That sounds amazing xxx
  Reply
2. Amazing idea!!
  Reply
Looks delicious! Could I leave out the harissa, or is there a nonspicy substitute for my 2yo (who doesn’t like spice)? Thank you!
Reply
1. Of course, will be great without:)
  Love
  Niki xxx
  Reply
How big are your cans of tomatoes? They come in different sizes in the US and I’m wondering what size to use. Thanks!
Reply
1. Of course! Its 400g
  Love
  Niki xxx
  Reply
  1. Hi Niki. Another American here. Wondering if the tin of tomatoes are whole, diced, pureed, crushed? We have a lot of choices here and want to check first. Thank you!
    Reply
    1. I used crushed
      Much love, Niki xxx
      Reply
    2. Wow, have just stumbled across your web site and have just made this recipe,with a few substitutions, due to what I had on hand. Such a flavoursome dish!
      Didn’t have mushrooms, so used an extra carrot. Didn’t have sundried tomatos, so used tom paste, used harissa powder instead of paste. Did put a tbsp of mushroom sauce to hopefully add the extra flavour mushrooms would have added! Look forward to trying more of your recipes!
      Reply
Are the red lentils cooked or dried?
Reply
1. Hi Tayah
  They are red dried split lentils xxxx
  Reply
  1. we love this in our house. I have trialled roasting the red pepper capsicum first to see if it adds more flavour. Hopefully just as good if not better!
    Reply
    1. So happy you love it! xxx
      Reply

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Smoky Lentil & Walnut Bolognese with Crispy Roast Potatoes | Rebel Recipes (2024)