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 Lentil Bolognese with Penne & Hard Italian Cheese
Sneak in the extra veg without a word. This crowd-pleasing Bolognese is loaded with lentils, courgette, carrots and tomato – 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!
Ready in 20
1/3 daily fibre
4 of 5 a day
Low sat fat
Family-friendly
Serving size
Ingredients
- 250g brown rice penne pasta (Soya) (Brown rice flour 100%)
- 40g italian hard cheese (Eggs, Milk) (cow's milk, salt, microbial rennet, preservative (lysozyme protein from egg).)
- 506 x bijoux verts lentils in salted water (Bijoux Verts Lentils (60%), Water (39.4%) , Salt (0.6%).)
- 400g passata (tomatoes, salt, citric acid)
- 10g vegetable stock powder (Chicory Extract, Salt, Yeast Extracts, Onion Powder, Carrot Extract, Tomato Powder, Rapeseed Oil, Natural Flavouring.)
- 2 tbsp sundried tomato paste (Tomato Puree, Sundried Tomatoes, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Pine Kernels, Salt)
- 2 tbsp garlic, basil and parsley paste (garlic puree, basil, rapeseed oil, parsley, sea salt, acidity regulator: citric acid)
- 1 courgette
- 2 carrot
- 1 onion
Nutritional Information
Calories: 526
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 81g
Fat: 11g
Hidden-veg Lentil Bolognese with Penne & Hard Italian Cheese
Sneak in the extra veg without a word. This crowd-pleasing Bolognese is loaded with lentils, courgette, carrots and tomato – 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!
Getting hungry?
Find 56 recipes a week just like this one at Mindful Chef, that are all:
Delicious, high quality food - and lots of it
No stodgy refined carbs - no food comas here
Goodness from natural food - full of fibre
Cooking Instructions
Before you start
- Bring a large saucepan filled with salted water to a boil
- Pull out a large frying pan, a sieve, a measuring jug, a grater & a masher
Prep time
- Finely dice the onion. Coarsely grate the courgette and carrots (Make it kid friendly: leave the carrots out of the sauce, cut into 1cm batons and serve as crunchy crudités on the side)
Start the ragu & cook the pasta
- Heat the large frying pan with 2 tsp oil on medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, courgette and carrot and cook for 6-7 mins, until softened. Season with pepper
- Add the penne to the saucepan and simmer for 7-8 mins, until cooked, then drain
Build the flavour
- Stir the garlic herb paste and sundried tomato paste into the veg pan and cook for a further 1 min, then add the passata, veg stock and 200ml water and bring to a simmer
- Drain and rinse the lentils, then add to the pan and simmer for 4-5 mins, until reduced slightly
Final bits & plate up
- Gently mash the lentils into the sauce
- Stir the cooked pasta into the Bolognese. Add a splash of water if it's too dry
- Serve the pasta into bowls, then grate over the cheese
Looking for more recipe inspiration?
Subscribe to our newsletter and get delicious seasonal inspiration and recipes, plus 25% off your first 4 boxes with us!
By signing up to our mailing list you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy.