Name: Pasta With Lentils and Mushrooms
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: ¼ cup olive oil; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 8 oz. crimini mushrooms, stems trimmed, chopped into ¼" pieces; 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more; 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped; 1 cup brown lentils, rinsed; ¼ cup double-concentrated tomato paste; ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes; 10 oz. orecchiette or conchiglie; 1½ oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about ½ cup), plus more for serving; 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces; ½ cup coarsely chopped parsley, plus more for serving

Image may contain Food Dish Meal and Platter

Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by D'Myrtrek Brown

Why boil pasta then toss it with sauce when you could cook it directly in the sauce? This is the question we’ve been asking ourselves ever since Basically editor Sarah Jampel’s genius vegetarian pasta dish entered our lives. Lentils, browned mushrooms, tomato paste, and other friends get a head start before pasta joins the party; as the noodles cook, they absorb the tomato-rich broth while releasing the starches that eventually form a creamy sauce. Depending on the power of your burner, you might find that your liquid is evaporating before your noodles are al dente. If this happens, just add very hot water to the pot, about ½ cup at a time, until the pasta is cooked. If you're craving acid, you can deglaze the vegetables with red wine or add a splash of red wine vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Recipe information

Yield
4 servings

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

8 oz. crimini mushrooms, stems trimmed, chopped into ¼" pieces

1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed

¼ cup double-concentrated tomato paste

½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

10 oz. orecchiette or conchiglie

1½ oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about ½ cup), plus more for serving

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

½ cup coarsely chopped parsley, plus more for serving

Preparation

Step 1
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium. Add onion and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are deeply browned and really starting to stick to bottom of pot, 12–14 minutes. Season lightly with salt.
Step 2
Add garlic, lentils, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until tomato paste darkens slightly and lentils are coated, about 2 minutes. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently until lentils are tender but still have some bite, 10–12 minutes.
Step 3
Add pasta and 1 tsp. salt to pot. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often (especially as the liquid starts to reduce toward the end) and adding very hot water by ½ cupfuls as needed if liquid is reducing too fast, until pasta is cooked through and liquid is reduced, 10–14 minutes.
Step 4
Remove pot from heat and stir in Parmesan, butter, and ½ cup parsley. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
Step 5
Divide among bowls and top with more Parmesan and parsley.