Miso, Mushroom & Lentil Bolognese

Mushrooms & miso are the star ingredients in this comforting dish, jam packed full of umami rich flavours.

A firm family favourite! Make a double batch and pop in your freezer for quick and convenient nourishment.

The finer you cut the mushrooms the more unnoticeable they become, my daughter is not a fan of mushrooms but loves the bolognese thanks to some clever chopping!

Getting Ahead: The bolognese will sit happily in the fridge for 2-3 days, making it the perfect getting ahead dish.

Seasonal Swaps: I would keep the base of onions, celery and carrots as it is, called Soffritto in Italian and it really is the magic trio. Feel free to add more veggies if you prefer, parnsip, butternut, leeks, courgette and aubergines can all be added to the soffrito. Just bear in mind that you are creating volume and will need to adjust your liquids accordingly by adding a can or two of tomatoes.

Serves 4

Serve with pasta, add as a base to lasagne, the perfect topping to roasted veggies or in a toasted quesadilla.

A large saucepan and a good non stick frying pan to brown your mushrooms.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions finely diced
• 4 sticks celery, finely diced
• 2 large carrots, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons brown miso (see kitchen note)
• 750g mixed mushrooms (porcini, white button & small chestnut) roughly chopped.
• 2 tablespoons mix of rosemary, thyme & sage, leaves only chopped
• 2 x 400g cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 750ml passata
• 1/2 cup organic brown lentils
• 2 bay leaves
• 30g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt & pepper

1. Get all your ingredients ready.
2. Start by browning 2/3 of the mushrooms in small batches on a med heat until well browned and golden – set aside. Leave 1/3 chopped mushrooms raw.
3. Pour the oil into a saucepan, add the carrots, celery and onions and sauté covered on a medium heat for about 25minutes, until the mixture is very soft and slightly caramelised. Add the minced garlic and stir for about 3 minutes, add the chopped herbs and the tomato paste and stir for 3 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes (cans and passata),mushrooms, lentils and miso. Fill the cans of tomatoes with water and add this too. Add the bay leaves and simmer on low for 40min or until lentils are tender. TIP: The mixture needs to be fairly liquid as the lentils will absorb some of the liquid, feel free to add more liquid in the form of tomatoes or water.
5. Season with generous amounts of black pepper and salt and more miso if needed.
6. Once cooled, add the chopped parsley.

Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients.

If you aren’t already cooking with miso, this is a beautiful recipe to start with. Miso is delicious and adds a salty taste to your food.

Miso can bring awesome umami qualities to everything from salad dressings to roasted vegetables.

There are different types of Miso, white and brown is the ones I use most often. White is slightly sweet and is ideal for bakes and dressings. You can buy miso at any good health store.