Okay, so I admit that pasta is not the most exciting recipe to be blogging about. BUT, in my defence, I am a student and pasta is a student staple. I am week 5 into term which means it’s all starting to get a bit cray… So a massive vat of pasta to get me through the week is just what the Doctor ordered.

Shopping list: 3 carrots, 2 peppers, 1 onion, mushrooms, garlic, 175g sun-dried tomatoes, 800g tins chopped tomatoes, 400g tubes of tomato puree (be aware of double concentrate ones (looking at you, Sainsbury’s)), 500g lentils, turkey mince, 500g brown or gluten-free pasta.

As with a lot of my batch recipes, this is very forgiving so please don’t feel you have to stick to the veg that I used here. You can also easily make this recipe vegetarian by not using the turkey mince – the lentils are filling enough with the veg.

I was also tempted to add some coffee to the bolognese, like they do in those Sainsbury’s adverts. (But I didn’t) So if anybody tries this, please let me know how it is?!

Pasta time:

1) Grate your carrots (I’m so sorry) and then chop up all the remaining veg, including the sun-dried tomatoes.

2) Add the garlic and onions to the saucepan with a little oil. Then add the peppers, followed by the turkey. Once the turkey is cooked, add the mushrooms and carrots. Then add the sun-dried tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, lentils and 450ml water.

3) Stir everything together and then allow the mixture to simmer for 45 mins – 1 hour, stirring every now and then. (I used this extra hour to do the rest of my meal prep for the week… I heart sweet potato wedges)

4) With 20 mins(ish) to go, cook the pasta. Brown pasta in particular takes longer than white pasta so bear this in mind.

5) Add the pasta to the bolognese, mix and serve.

I served mine with a little parmesan and spoonful of pesto which added some extra flavour. It’s a great comfort food now that we’re hitting November (yay Bonfire Night and mulled wine and toffee apples and my red hat!) Enjoy!