Hearty Pasta with Black Lentil, Carrot, and Chard Ragout

This hearty and healthy pasta is a perfect dish for winter. It is sauced in a black lentil, carrot, and chard ragout that practically melts in your mouth.

Is it too early to call this THE pasta of the year?!

Because I really think it might be.

And this is not just some “guess what, we hired a new nanny!” high-induced pasta love. (As an aside, guess what! We hired a new nanny! Cue a million sighs of relief.)

We ate this when I was still in the throes of nanny interviewing with nary a viable option in sight…so when I say that this pasta was love at first bite, know that it was true true love.

The best part of this pasta is that the sauce is so. so. so. basic.

And I mean that in the literal way, not in the generation Z way that I couldn’t even possibly use in a sentence, let alone define.

I’m old. No, really. Case in point: LENTILS GET ME EXCITED. Just look at them. You can’t even tell me that your heart isn’t skipping a beat right now.

Okay, so garlic, carrots, leeks, and swiss chard walk into a bar are simmered away in vegetable broth until they pretty much melt in your mouth, which doesn’t even take that long!! Maybe 15 minutes.

Then cooked lentils, pasta, and goat cheese are stirred in and magically everything is right in the world.

And then you’ll eat it for dinner and the next morning you’ll interview the most perfect nanny for your 8 month old.

I’m not saying it was definitely good luck pasta or anything, but…..

….those lentils, though.

(I can’t even make this stuff up.)

Hearty Pasta with Black Lentil, Carrot, and Chard Ragout

 

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This hearty and healthy pasta is a perfect dish for winter. It is sauced in a black lentil, carrot, and chard ragout that practically melts in your mouth.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried black lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 leek, thinly sliced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch chunks
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 bunch swiss chard, leaves thinly sliced
• 1 lb gemelli pasta, cooked according to package directions
• 4 oz goat cheese

Instructions

1. Place the lentils in a medium pot and cover generously with water. Add the bay leaf and a pinch of salt to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat low. Simmer covered for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Drain, remove the bay leaf, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, make the ragout. In a separate medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the carrots and leeks, stirring to coat with the oil. Cook for 1 minute. Add a pinch of salt followed by the vegetable broth and the chard leaves. Stew until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cooked lentils.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain. Toss the pasta with the ragout. Crumble the goat cheese over the pot and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Notes

Lightly adapted The Greens Cookbook

Nutrition Information

Serving size: ¼ of recipe

3.5.3208