Vegetable-Lentil Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles

Vegetable-Lentil Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles is a quick, healthy meal you’ll love to prep and serve! Swirly zucchini noodles make a low carb stand in for standard spaghetti, topped with a delightful sauce perfect for dinner!

Vegetable-Lentil Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles are a quick-prep dish for your next meal, and it’s also delicious and pretty healthy, too.

Vegetable-Lentil Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles

What is Bolognese Sauce?

• Typical Bolognese sauce is a red, Italian meat sauce or ragù with origins in the city of Bologna.
• It’s rich and thick and usually made with beef and pork in a slow-cooked process.
• The sauce starts out with a soffritto – a mix of carrot, onion, and celery – cooked in oil until slightly soft.

Have you ever had Bolognese sauces? For this recipe, the lentils and mushrooms step in to add texture to this meat-free sauce.

 The Cleveland Clinic shares that lentils are gluten free, packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and don’t include the fat and cholesterol of red meat.

It’s not yet the time of year when gardens are overflowing with zucchini, but I live in Arizona where the weather is currently warmer than in most other parts of the country. I picked up a local farm’s vegetable box recently with a load of fresh zucchini in it.

I could have made the usual zucchini bread or muffins (yum!) with my haul, but I decided to make a quick meal instead. Zucchini noodles, or zoodles, take next to no time to prep and cook. Add a fabulous sauce over the top, and you’re in for a quick and delicious dish.

What are Zoodles and What is a Spiralizer?

• Zoodles, or zucchini noodles, make a lovely, low-carb alternative to regular spaghetti or other pasta.
• Zoodles are simply zucchini cut in a way that resembles spaghetti strands.
• A few years back, zoodles were all over the internet! They’re easy to make with a spiralizer – simple countertop tool with a blade that can cut veggies and fruit into strands and other shapes.
• If you don’t have a spiralizer or you don’t want another gadget for the kitchen but you still want to try zoodles, use a standard vegetable peeler to slice your zucchini into ribbons that look more like fettuccine than spaghetti!

Do You Love Zucchini? Try These Zucchini Recipes!

• Low-Carb Zoodles with Romesco Sauce
• Zucchini-Thyme Frittata for Two
• Fried Zucchini Blossoms
• Zucchini-Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Whether you use zucchini to make the noodles for this dish or you use traditional spaghetti or rigatoni, this sauce is super-delicious.

Vegetable-Lentil Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles makes a great, filling dish for your next meal. The flavor is amazing and due to its quick cook time, turnaround is ideal after a busy day. Classic Bolognese sauce is lovely, but if you’re looking for a veggie-based option, give this a go!

Patricia - Grab a Plate

Yields Serves 4

Vegetable-Lentil Bolognese with Zucchini Noodles

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Ingredients

• 3 large zucchini, ends trimmed, then spiraled *Note: if you don’t have a tool to spiral cut the zucchini, use a vegetable peeler to peel the zucchini into ribbons.
• 1/4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 larger carrot, diced
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1, 6-ounce package cremini mushrooms, diced
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1, 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1, 15-ounce can lentils, drained and rinsed

Instructions

For the Bolognese:
1. Add the 2 tablespoons oil to a large pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add the carrot, onion, and celery, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme, and rosemary. Cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften.
2. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Stir to break up the tomato paste, then add the mushrooms, red wine. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and vegetable broth.
4. Bring the mixture to boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes until the mixture is reduced by almost half.
5. Add the lentils to the mixture and cook until warmed through.
For the Zucchini Pasta:
6. About 5 minutes before the Bolognese is finished cooking, add the remaining oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
7. When hot, add the zucchini and remaining salt and black pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until just slightly softened.

Notes

If you don't have a spiralizer, use a vegetable peeler on the zucchini to create ribbons.

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