Italian Lentils with Pasta
This hearty one pot Italian Lentils with Pasta will please every palate, young or old.
Equipment
- 1 Pressure cooker or large pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown or green lentils, dried or 2 cans
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced medium
- 1 carrot, diced medium
- 1 celery, diced medium
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1½ teaspoons paprika
- 2 cups tomato juice or vegetable cocktail
- 4 cups water, vegetable or chicken stock or more if necessary
- 1 cup macaroni or any short pasta such as ditali or shells
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Soak lentils in plenty of cold water for 2-3 hours. Rinse well. Lentils will still cook from dry but they will require longer cooking. If you are using canned lentils, you can skip this step. Just drain and set aside.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pressure cooker or large pot. Add onion, carrot and celery. Sweat for 8-10 minutes or until onions are translucent and vegetables are softened.
- Add garlic, dried oregano and paprika. Sautee another minute until fragrant.
- Add water or stock and tomato juice or vegetable cocktail. Add lentils. If using a pressure cooker, cover and bring to pressure for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and allow pressure to release naturally until the valve drops. This takes about 15 more minutes. If using a regular pot (more ideal for canned lentils), cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 40-45 minutes (if using dried/soaked lentils) until lentils are soft. For canned lentils, cook only for 20-25 minutes. Add more water or stock if necessary, though there should be plenty of liquid.
- Once lentils are fully cooked, add macaroni, salt and pepper. Continue cooking on medium low until macaroni is fully cooked, about 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Serve immediately drizzled with olive oil.
Notes
It is not necessary to use a pressure cooker if you are using canned lentils as they are already cooked. A pressure cooker is ideal only when you want to speed up the cooking time with dried lentils.
Instead of tomato juice or vegetable cocktail, you can use 1-1/2 - 2 cups of crushed tomatoes.