Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 100ml red wine
- 1 tsp of dried oregano
- 1 x 250g pouch of Merchant Gourmet Puy Lentils
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1.5 tbsp of flour
- 200-300ml milk, added bit by bit
- Handful of grated cheese
- 2 tbsp Sacla’ Vegan Tomato Pesto
- 180g pasta shells (we love Conchiglie)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a tbsp of oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add your onion and carrot and sweat down. After 10 minutes, add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato purée and oregano to the pan and mix and season well.
- Add the Merchant Gourmet Puy Lentils, chopped tomatoes and red wine. Refill your tomato tin with water and add a ‘tinful’ of tomatoey water into the mix. Let this bubble and reduce for 15 minutes until you have a rich ragu.
- For the pesto béchamel, start by making a roux. Melt the butter in a small pan on a medium heat, then add your flour to make a paste. Very gradually add the milk whilst constantly stirring until a thickened sauce forms. Add in Sacla’s Vegan Tomato Pesto and a handful of cheese to finish it off.
- Prepare your shell pasta according to packet instructions and cook till ad dente. In a large baking dish place your cooked shells. Fill each one with a spinach leaf and a tsp of the ragu.
- Once the dish is filled with stuffed shells, pour over the Pesto béchamel until all the pasta is covered. Top with cheese and cook in the oven for 15 minutes until golden and bubbling.