The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.
As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Hidden-veg Pork Bolognese with Penne Pasta & Hard Italian Cheese
Sneak in the extra veg without a word. This crowd-pleasing Bolognese is loaded with lentils, carrots and tomatoes alongside the pork – comforting, familiar and genuinely good for them. Serve the carrots as crudités on the side for little foodies who prefer things separate. Clean plates guaranteed!
Prep in 10
High protein
1/3 daily fibre
5 plants
Family-friendly
Serving size
Ingredients
- 20g italian hard cheese (Eggs, Milk) (cow's milk, salt, microbial rennet, preservative (lysozyme protein from egg).)
- 80g red split lentils (Red Split Lentil 99%, Vegetable Oil 1%)
- 10g chicken stock powder (Chicory Extract, Yeast Extract, Natural Flavouring, Salt, Onion Powder, Chicken Stock Powder, Rapeseed Oil.)
- 400g passata (tomatoes, salt, citric acid)
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (Sulphites) (wine vinegar (75%), concentrated grape must (25%))
- 2 tbsp garlic, basil and parsley paste (garlic puree, basil, rapeseed oil, parsley, sea salt, acidity regulator: citric acid)
- 2 carrot
- 110g baby tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 500g free-range pork mince
- 200g wholewheat pasta (Wheat) (Whole Durum Wheat Flour (100%))
Nutritional Information
Calories: 702
Protein: 42g
Carbs: 75g
Fat: 24g
Hidden-veg Pork Bolognese with Penne Pasta & Hard Italian Cheese
Sneak in the extra veg without a word. This crowd-pleasing Bolognese is loaded with lentils, carrots and tomatoes alongside the pork – comforting, familiar and genuinely good for them. Serve the carrots as crudités on the side for little foodies who prefer things separate. Clean plates guaranteed!
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Cooking Instructions
Before you start
- Pull out a large lidded frying pan, a large saucepan, a measuring jug, a sieve & a grater
Time to fry & prep
- Heat the large frying pan with 1/2 tsp oil on medium-high heat. Once hot, add the pork and season with salt and pepper
- Cook for 4 mins, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon, until golden brown
- Finely dice the onion. Halve the tomatoes. Coarsely grate the carrots (peel optional)
- (make it kid friendly: cut the carrots into batons and serve with the tomatoes as crunchy crudités on the side instead)
Simmer simmer
- Add the onion and carrot to the pork pan and cook for 3 mins
- Stir in the garlic herb paste, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and cook for 1 min
- Add the passata, stock powder, lentils and 400ml water. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and simmer for 22-25 mins, until the lentils are cooked through. Add a splash of water if it becomes too dry
Cook the pasta
- When the lentils have 10 mins remaining, bring the large saucepan filled with salted water to the boil. Once boiling, add one and a half packs of penne to the saucepan and cook for 9-10 mins, until cooked, then drain
- Finely grate the cheese
Plate up
- Stir the cooked penne through the Bolognese. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Serve the penne Bolognese into bowls, sprinkled with the cheese to finish
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