Pasta with lentil and tomato sauce

This is a recipe I like to use on work days. I can prep the sauce the night before and leave it standing ready for a quick 30 minute cook when I get in. I use shop bought gluten free pasta. The sauce is dairy free and vegan. Delicious for everyone!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of green lentils
• 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes or a carton of passata depending on how smooth you want the sauce to be.
• 1 cup of vegetable stock made with one stock cube (I use knorr vegetable cubes)
• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper (choose your colour or mix a few)
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon tomato pure
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 350g pasta
• Half a cup of broccoli florets (optional)

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and pepper and add to a large saucepan.
2. Stir in the lentils, chopped tomatoes/passata, vegetable stock and herbs before leaving to stand for several hours.
3. Rapidly heat the mixture until boiling then simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (if adding broccoli add this for the final 5 mins of cooking).
4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta, drain and return to the pan.
5. Add the lentil sauce to the pasta and stir well ensuring all of the pasta is coated with the sauce.