Storecupboard Bolognese

This is adapted from Ottolenghi’s lentil ragu so that it’s more Italian in feel but the theory of it is the same. I’ve started it off in the oven but you can make it all stovetop, by softening the onion, celery, carrot, onion and garlic first, as you would a classic Bolognese. 

Serves 6
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped  
2 sticks celery, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium sweet potato or parsnip, peeled and chopped
60 butter 
60g dried porcini, roughly blitzed 
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
120ml olive oil 
3 bay leaves 
70g white miso paste 
4 tbsp tomato paste
90ml soy sauce
180g dried brown or green lentils 
100g pearl barley, spelt or short grain brown rice
1 litre vegetable (or chicken) stock 
100ml red wine
Salt and black pepper
15g basil leaves, finely chopped

For cottage pie (non-veg):
Worcestershire sauce
Anchovies

Heat the oven to 210C. Mix the first ingredients up to and including the tomato paste in a large, 36cm x 28cm non-stick baking tin and roast for 40 minutes, stirring once halfway, until golden brown and bubbling.

Reduce the heat to 180C and stir all the remaining ingredients except the basil into the tin with 150ml water, half a teaspoon of salt and a very generous grind of black pepper. If you are using this for cottage pie, a slug of Worcerstershire sauce and a tin of chopped anchovies adds a great umami hit.

Cover tightly with foil, bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on what grains you are using (regular barley, spelt or brown rice will take longer to cook through than a pearled variety), then remove the foil and bake for a final five minutes. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes, sprinkle the basil on top and serve.