Pasta And Lentils Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs; drain.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 7 minutes. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lentils, then add the tomatoes, 2 cups water, the basil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the sauce to a boil; cook 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Add the pasta to the sauce along with half of the parmesan. Season with salt and toss. Divide among bowls; drizzle with olive oil and top with the remaining parmesan and more basil.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a rolling boil, add the lentils, and cook, covered over a medium high heat, until nearly but not entirely tender, about 20 minutes.
• Add the garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Reduce the heat, cover and continue to simmer briskly for another 10 minutes, stirring a few times, or until the lentil are fully tender.
• If using capellini, break it into 2 to 4 inch pieces and add them to the lentils. Cook, covered, at a steady simmer, stirring several times and scraping the bottom of the pot when you do. Cook until the pasta is just done, stirring more frequently as it gets closer to that point. If using a small tubular pasta or pasta mista, cook the pasta at least halfway in plenty of salted boiling water. Drain the pasta, add it to the lentils, and simmer to finish cooking the pasta.
• When either pasta is cooked to taste, remove the pot from the heat, stir in the parsley, cover the pot, and let stand about 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot, passing hot pepper oil all the best quality extra virgin olive oil for drizzling on top.

Steps:

• In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 5 cups of water, the lentils, the thyme and bay leaves (if using). Partially cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are al dente, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a boil over high. Add the pasta and cook, stirring often to keep the pasta from sticking to the pot, until the pasta is al dente, 10 to 20 minutes. (It may take longer than the cook time on the package.) If the pot starts to look dry at any point, add more water, 1/4 cup at a time.
• Turn off the heat, discard the thyme and bay leaves, then stir in the Parmesan. Cover and let sit for 3 minutes so the flavors meld and the sauce thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Eat with more Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is slightly soft, about 2 minutes. Remove 1 tablespoon of the flavored oil and set aside. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 more minutes. Add the chicken broth, 4 cups water and the cheese rind, if using. Bring to a boil, then add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add the lentils along with the liquid from one of the cans; reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the pasta is tender, 10 to 12 more minutes. Meanwhile, whisk 1 tablespoon parsley and 1 tablespoon water into the reserved flavored oil. Stir 1/4 cup parmesan and the remaining parsley into the soup; remove the cheese rind (if using) and add salt to taste. Ladle into bowls; drizzle with the flavored oil and top with the remaining 1/4 cup parmesan. Serve with bread, if desired.

Steps:

• Brown kielbasa in oil and butter in a large skillet. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and onion. Cook and stir for 3 minutes over medium heat. Transfer to a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the broth, lentils, tomatoes, bay leaf, pepper and salt., Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until lentils are tender. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Stir pasta into slow cooker. Discard bay leaf. Sprinkle servings with cheese.

Steps:

• Rinse lentils. Put them in a saucepan and cover with water by 1 inch. Toss in Parmesan rind, if using. Add a good pinch of salt and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain lentils and reserve cooking water.
• As lentils cook, put 3 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is wavy, add diced onion and fennel, and season with salt and pepper. Add fennel seeds and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until softened and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.
• Add garlic, passata and 2 or 3 tablespoons finely chopped fennel fronds. Stir to combine and add drained lentils. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until somewhat thickened. Taste and correct seasoning, then cook for 5 minutes more, so the flavors meld. Add lentil cooking water as necessary to keep everything saucy.
• As sauce cooks, set a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Divide among individual bowls and ladle sauce over each serving. Top with shavings of ricotta salata and more chopped fennel fronds. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.

Steps:

• Brown onion and garlic in oil over medium heat. Stir in lentil soup and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Stir in spinach and spices. Simmer.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until almost done. Drain. Mix pasta into lentil sauce. Cover, and keep warm for 20 minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Steps:

• Place lentils in a large pot. Add enough water to just cover. Add celery, carrot, onion and bay, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, until lentils are tender.
• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to the boil.
• Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until it just begins to turn golden. Add the lentils (vegetables, liquid and all) and tomatoes, salt and red pepper flake. If it seems thick, add a splash of water from the pasta pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until reduced by about a third, 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the rigatoni to the boiling water and cook until ALMOST al dente. Drain the pasta and add to the lentils to finish cooking for the last 1-2 minutes. Finish with a drizzle of raw olive oil and garnish with chopped parsley.

Steps:

• In a large heavy skillet cook the onion with the thyme in the oil in moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is golden. While the onion is cooking, combine the lentils with 1 1/3 cups water, bring the water to a boil, and simmer the lentils, covered, for 12 minutes. Add the carrot and simmer the mixture, covered for 3 minutes, or until the lentils and carrot are just tender. Transfer the lentil mixture with the liquid to the skillet, season it with salt and pepper, and keep it at a bare simmer while cooking the pasta.
• In a large saucepan of salted boiling water boil the pasta until it is al dente. Ladle out and reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta liquid, drain the pasta, and add it to the lentil mixture. Simmer the pasta mixture, tossing it to combine it and adding some of the reserved pasta liquid to moisten the mixture if necessary, for 1 minute. Stir in the parsley and transfer the mixture to a heated serving bowl. Serve the pasta with the Parmesan.