Have I mentioned that it's cold in our apartment?!
I'm sure I have, considering it's hard to escape the toe-numbing cold that is our north-facing, heat-less apartment. Literally. My toes go numb. Brett and I often forget how beautiful the weather is outside, because it so chilly and shaded in our apartment. Thankfully we've learned the truth and have been making sure we get outside often to soak up the beautiful sun we have here in our city.
The hardest part about having a cold house is getting out of bed in the morning or changing clothes. We basically don't like being anywhere in our house unless one of our two space heaters is on. This has caused Brett and I to become quite the professionals with our two space heaters. An hour or so before bed, we'll turn on the space heater in our room to warm things up so that it's not too cold outside of the covers. In the morning, one of the first things we do is turn on the second space heater in our office. We basically live in our office during the day when we're not in class or outside. It's small enough that our small space heater turns it into a warm and cozy room where Brett and I can study, read, and eat our meals together. I've even resorted to putting my clothes for the day into our office first thing in the morning so that they can warm up and be bearable to put on.
Priorities friends.
All this cold weather has caused Brett and I to eat ALL the warming foods. Soups, oatmeal, baked sweet potatoes, rice and tons of my favorite Dairy-Free Indian Chai! This Lentil and Mushroom Ragu has also been a lifesaver. The lentils and mushrooms made this sauce so hearty and filling and it tastes amazing on rice or noodles or straight out of a tupperware container. This recipe was actually adapted from my Oil-Free Simple Marinara Sauce. I basically bulked the sauce up by adding in red lentils and mushrooms and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.
Yum!
Let me know if you give this recipe a try! I'd love to see a picture (tag #theconscientiouseater on Instagram) or hear your comments below!
📖 Recipe
Lentil and Mushroom Ragu
Ingredients
- ⅔ red onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 large tomatoes chopped
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 8 ounces mushrooms de stemmed and chopped
- 1 cup red lentils rinsed and picked through
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- 1 bay leaf
- Pepper and salt to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onion and garlic in water until the onion is soft.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs and bay leaf, lentils and water, cover the sauce, and allow everything to simmer until the fresh tomatoes cook down and the lentils are cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Astrid says
I love this recipe thank you for sharing Faith!
Faith says
So glad you liked this recipe Astrid! Thanks for sharing!
Amber Lee says
This recipe was fast and delicious. The only thing I changed was I used some precooked lentils I had on hand. Thanks for sharing.
Faith says
So glad you enjoyed it Amber! And precooked lentils is genius! Thanks for sharing!
Ana @ Ana's Rocket Ship says
I know what you mean about the cold. I've been late to a few lectures cause it's so cold I've not wanted to take my pyjamas off to get dressed. Oops. Maybe this ragu for breakfast would remedy that...
Faith says
Ah, glad you can relate Ana!! Although I'm not glad that you're cold:) And I wouldn't judge you one bit if you ate spaghetti for breakfast!
Mara Freeman says
Hello,
I am very sorry to say that this recipe, the first I've tried from your website, is really very very disappointing. I tried it tonight for what I was hoping would be a fairly quick weekday supper. I'm still waiting after forty-five minutes for the lentils to cook down. Although they were bought fresh and new recently, they are still somewhat hard. When I added only one cup of water as instructed, I thought that was probably too little, and in fact it was. I've now had to add two more cups to stop the lentils from sticking in what is quite a good thick skillet, covered. The other thing is that now that it's almost cooked, it has the strangest bitter taste. I can only think this comes from adding an entire half cup of tomato paste. I'm quite an experienced cook, and I've been desperately trying to change this by adding some coconut palm sugar, broth powder, and tamari, but the bitter taste still lingers - despite the extra water that was added to this. I'm now feeling really exhausted and fairly fed up that I trusted your recipe.
Mara
Faith says
Mara, I'm so sorry to hear about your frustrating, disappointing experience! No one would enjoy cooking if it was like that, so I truly apologize. Red split lentils are one of the fastest cooking lentils, so what happened when you made this recipe baffles me!! It took me no time to prepare this and we loved it. Did you use another kind of lentils? Again, I apologize and I hope you were able to eventually have a meal that night!
Alyssa @ Renaissancerunnergirl says
Sounds like you have the plan down for maximum heat! I am also craving many more soups, stews, and sweet potatoes with the chilly weather lately. Not so many salads...
Faith says
I'm right there with you! I realized recently that my raw veggie consumption has been seriously lacking...but that's why I hide them in warm, comforting foods!
Liv @ Healthy Liv says
Your ragu looks amazing! I love that you used lentils to bulk up the sauce and make it a little heartier. Just pinned it!
And hope y'all are staying as warm and possible with your space heaters! Maybe you can find some super cozy blankets, slippers, etc. too? 🙂
Faith says
Thanks Liv! I have so many lentils from our trip to Nepal, you'll probably see them in all kinds of dishes! And I really do need to get some slipper-like house shoes. I've just been wearing my hiking socks haha!
Sarah says
This looks delicious! The family loves pasta and since the girls are liking mushrooms more I can't wait to try it! Thanks for linking up with us, hope you have a wonderful Meatless Monday!
Faith says
I hope you do Sarah! We love it and it's so simple to make!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
O man...when the house is cold, getting out of the shower...now that is the worst for me! Even though we don't even have much hot water, it's even worse to get out of the lukewarm-ness!
Faith says
Amen! I know the feeling! I've put off taking a shower to many times just because of that!
Kat says
Im sorry to hear about your cold apartment! My husband runs hot, so we keep the heater at like 60 degrees at night. I hate it! I always wake up freezing. I literally sleep so dang bundled up and he's just laying there above the covers. Like, seriously?! lol
This Ragu dish sounds so so good! I've never made one before, but I love the simple ingredients. And Im such a sucker for lentils!
Faith says
Haha! My husband and I are a lot different in our temperature preferences too. It's amazing how different our bodies are! I hope you guys can find a happy medium:)
Julie @ Running in a Skirt says
This looks simply fabulous! What a great way to hearty up a pasta sauce. Can't wait to try it. Pinned!
Faith says
Oh good Julie! I'm glad you like it! Let me know if it works out for you!
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner says
Yum I have been cooking with a lot of lentils lately too! Thanks for joining us for meatless Monday today
Faith says
They're so cheap and easy...can't get much better than that! Thanks for hosting Deborah!
rachel @ Athletic Avocado says
I know the struggles of waking up in a cold apartment all too well, it's not so pleasant and makes me crave warm foods too. I love the addition of lentils in this ragu to provide extra nourishment and texture, yum!
Faith says
Thanks Rachel! Where do you live Rachel? Sounds like we're both excited for summer:)