Is there anything nicer than a quickly prepared lunch or dinner? This one-pot pasta is definitely something like that as it’ll be ready in just a few minutes!
But this recipe has even more benefits: It is completely versatile and modifiable to your taste (you don’t like zucchinis but love sweet corn? – just change it!), vegan and even gluten-free which makes it easily digestible. Nowadays you can get lentil pasta in almost every super market but if you are unlucky just visit your local health shop or drugstore. Often there are also other pasta types available such as chickpea or buckwheat.
Oh and by the way, if you don’t like this Asian-Italian fusion kitchen vibe you could skip the coconut milk and use water mixed with a little nut butter instead. Swap the curry paste with Italien herbs and your 100% Italian dish is ready to be eaten. Have fun cooking!
(You can find more vegan lunch and dinner ideas by clicking HERE.)
Creamy one-pot red lentils pasta with walnuts
What you need:
1/2 cup red lentils pasta
1 piece zucchini
1 carrot
2 pieces green asparagus (or other veggies if not in season)
50 g tofu
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sun-dried or half-dried and oil-pickled tomatoes
5 fresh cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp curry paste
fresh basil (and mint)
pickled olives
walnuts
nutritional yeast
As always you can substitute all kinds of veggies with others you may like better. Perfect fit would be aubergines or sweet corn.
How to make it:
1. Cut your veggies and the tofu in pieces.
2. Fry the tofu with a little oil in a pan. Then add carrots and asparagus and let them cook for a little while.
3. In the meantime put your tomatoes, water, garlic and curry paste in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Now add the tomato sauce and the coconut milk to the vegetables and wait until it cooks. Add pasta and zucchini and let it simmer for five until seven minutes (the liquid should be gone by now).
5. Put the one-pot lentil pasta in a bowl and decorate with fresh herbs, olives, walnuts and nutritional yeast. Enjoy!
Tips
Don’t overcook the pasta as this will make it too soft and slimy. Have a look at your own pasta and see how long it takes to be done.
As mentioned above you can swap these ingredients:
Lentil pasta with chickpea or any other gluten-free pasta.
Coconut milk and curry paste with water plus nut butter (such as cashew or almond) and Italian herbs such as basil and garlic.
Asparagus with eggplant or broccoli or any other veggies.
Credits:
Idea, words, photography: Diana Ranegger