Lentil ragù agrodolce

• 2 carrots
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion
• 400g tín of Puy lentils, or 250g home-cooked lentils see pages 241-5)
• 350ml jar of passata
• 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder, or half a stock cube
• 2 medjool dates, chopped
• 1 deseeded red chilli
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 300g pasta
• Parmesan to serve

Instructions

1. 1

   Get all your ingredients together.

2. 2

   Fill and boil your kettle.

3. 3

   Peel the carrots and cut them into fine dice, then put them into a heavy pan with the oil.

4. 4

   Cook on a medium heat while you peel and finely chop the onion, then add this to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft, sweet and nicely browned.

5. 5

   Add the lentils, then pour in the passata and the vegetable stock with half a tin of hot water from the kettle.

6. 6

   Roughly chop the dates and the chilli and add to the pan with the vinegar.

7. 7

   Simmer for 25 minutes until you have a thick, rich ragù.

8. 8

   Put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta and salt it generously.

9. 9

   Once the lentils have had 25 minutes, cook the pasta or courgetti and drain, reserving a cup or so of the cooking water.

10. 10

    When the lentil ragù is ready, take off the heat and mash half with a potato masher then return to the heat for a couple of minutes.

11. 11

    Once the sauce is ready, add the drained pasta or courgetti and a cup of pasta water if needed.

12. 12

    Serve with Parmesan.