Sunday 12 June 2011

Yummy Lentil Mush

So, remember when I said in my first post that before about two months ago I only knew how to make two things? Well, this is one of them. This was a meal that my mum has made for me since I was old enough to eat solids. Eventually I learned to make it myself, and we do sometimes eat it an obscene amount (It was once the only thing we had for a whole week). The main reason is that it's not only lovely, it's also really cheap once you've amassed all the ingredients.

Yummy Lentil Mush
Family Recipe!


Ingredients: 
Cooking oil
Red split lentils (honestly no idea how much. 1cm up the pans worth)
1 teaspoon basil
2 teaspoons cinammon (I probably put in more than that to be honest)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
Penne pasta (again, up to you how much you use. Spaghetti also works)
Grated Cheddar cheese (optional) 


1. Heat some cooking oil in a small pan. Put in the chopped onions and fry until cooked through but not brown

2. While the onions are cooking, put the lentils into a second pan. Pour water over them until they are covered. 

3. Mix the chopped tomato, basil, cinnamon and garlic in with the lentils and turn on the heat

4. Pour the onions in with the rest of the mixture and bring to the boil

5. When the lentils have boiled, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover the lentils. Heat them for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally

6. As the lentils are cooking, bring a pan of water to the boil and begin to heat up the pasta.

7. The lentil mix should now look something like the picture below. If it looks like the mixture is drying out or the lentils aren't mushy enough, put some more boiled water in from the kettle.

8. Serve the whole thing with a generous helping of pasta. If you're like me, grating some cheddar over the top is a great addition, but this is still really yummy without it, and not having it makes this dish vegan!



So that is the dish of my childhood! It is a bit weird really, as my family have always been big meat-eaters, but this was one dish that we always went back to. I really could eat this forever, and we have it at least once every couple of weeks. You don't have to make as much as I do, John and I are just massive piggies.

One thing though, if anyone can tell me how to stop the lentils securing themselves to the bottom of the pan no matter what I'd be greatful! I know my mum recently started reading so mum, if you know, please tell me! John doesn't like scrubbing it off after I'm done cooking (that's the deal, I cook, he cleans)

If any of you have any suggestions of meals to cook I'm all ears! I have a big long list of things to try but I'm happy to add to it.

Enjoy!

Roisi x

7 comments:

  1. I've got more pasta than body mass sitting in my cupboard right now so I'll give this a try once I have enough moneys for other bits...

    One thing I will suggest trying is cajun chicken and rice. Get to it.

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  2. I'd thoroughly recommend it. You can get a 1kg bag of lentils for about £3 (dont know how much in other countries) and that will do a good solid dozen of the amount I made there. It's really cost effective

    I'm not a huge rice fan but I have a ridiculous amount in the house so should really attempt something with it, and I've never made cajun so something to try!

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  3. Mum says to use more liquid and stir when it's cooking :) Also, to have less washing up you could cook the onions in the pan then add tomatoes, water and lentils, that's what I do. Parmesan goes great with it which is pretty cheap in lidl or you could use grana padano instead :)
    And it's vegetarian in the tags, not vegitarian :P

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  4. haha family affair :). I actually use no oil in the lentil pan so probably should start using some?

    I'm trying to corner the badly spelled foodie market ok!! x

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  5. Where you do you get your lentils from?

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  6. Just from the world foods section of asda or sainsburys. The brand in the picture is from asda. I imagine you can buy them in bulk from some markets but I'm all about convenience!

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  7. Okay, thanks for the lentil advice Miss Yoshi x

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