Every since pregnancy I have been kind of obsessed with lentils. I started eating them more for the nutritional benefits and then I just kind of fell in love. There are so many varieties of lentils from red to beluga but today I used French lentils for this recipe. French lentils are hearty and give this sauce some meatiness while began a healthy vegan sauce. My toddler devoured this so if you’re a parent looking to get your kid to eat more protein, fruits (yes I think we forget tomatoes are a fruit) and veggies this is a great sauce to have.

Lentil Marinara

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1-14.5oz can salt free diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup cooked French lentils
• 1/2 teaspoon ume plum vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• Olive Oil Spray

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Spray with olive oil spray and then add the onions and carrots; sautee 7-10 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and oregano. Add the tomatoes and lentils; stir to combine. Add your remaining ingredients and then cover and cook cover medium-low for 15 minutes. With a hand blender or a stand blender puree the ingredients.  This will leave you with a thick sauce which is fine as you will want to add your pasta directly to the sauce, carrying a little pasta water with it.  If you are not planning to toss this with pasta then you may want to add additional water to thin the sauce out slightly.

*I made extra of this to freeze so once I try it I’ll come back and let you know how freezing worked out.