Main Dishes
Rigatoni Pasta Recipe with Lentil Bolognese
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
1 hour
Yield
4 -6
This easy rigatoni pasta recipe with lentil bolognese is beautiful, protein-rich, and delicious!
This rigatoni pasta recipe not only looks like a beautiful pasta pie, but it’s also loaded with protein with the help of the lentil bolognese sauce. This recipe looks impressive, and is absolutely delicious. The benefit is – you won’t spend all day making it either!
Why you’ll love this rigatoni pasta recipe:
- Delicious: This rigatoni pasta recipe is the ultimate comfort food. It’s perfect for fall or winter!
- Easy but Impressive: This recipe looks super beautiful and impressive but it won’t take an expert chef to pull it off
- Versatile: Use your favorite sauce for this pasta pie recipe
Ingredient Notes:
Green Lentils: For the lentil bolognese sauce in this rigatoni pasta recipe, I used green lentils from Bob’s Red Mill. Green lentils have a peppery flavor and dark green color. You don’t need to pre-soak them and they cook in just 25-minutes.
Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast is sometimes called nooch and is a staple in most vegan or vegetarian pantries. It’s a complete protein, and jammed packed with B vitamins. It also has minerals like zinc in it too! It’s really easy to sprinkle in place of parmesan cheese, on top of salads, etc. for its added benefits.
How to make rigatoni pasta pie:
- Cook the lentils according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
To make the lentil bolognese
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- In a large saute pan, add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and minced garlic and cook 3-5 minutes until softened.
- Stir in the spices, bay leaves, salt and pepper and nutritional yeast. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the vegetable stock paste, water, tomato passata and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, stir in the cooked lentils. Cook for 20-25 minutes on medium-low.
- While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta to al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- You should have about 4 – 5 cups of lentil bolognese sauce once done cooking. If it’s too thick, add about a 1/2 – 1 cup of water or vegetable stock and stir to combine. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
To make the pasta pie
- Grease a springform pan with butter and/or olive oil and set aside. Arrange the rigatoni in the pan, standing the noodles on their ends. Pour the lentil bolognese sauce over all the pasta, making sure to spread / pour the sauce into the holes of the pasta too. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- To make it spooky, top with bocconcini halves with an olive slice on top to resemble eyes. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until cheese has melted. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.
Expert Tips & FAQ:
Want to meal-prep this dish? Cook the lentils ahead of time, cool and store in the fridge. Then add to the sauce when the recipe states.
What kind of lentils do I use? I use green lentils because they really work great for the consistency of the bolognese sauce.
Can I use regular pasta sauce? You can definitely swap the lentil bolognese for your favorite pasta sauces. Get creative!
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Rigatoni Pasta Recipe with Lentil Bolognese
Ingredients
For the lentil bolognese
- 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Green Lentils
- 2 tbsp 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp vegetable stock paste
- 3 cups water
- 680 ml / g tomato passata
- 500 g rigatoni, cooked according to package directions
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 cup mini bocconcini balls, cut in half
- 1/2 cup sliced black olives
- butter and/or olive oil for the springform pan
Instructions
- Cook the lentils according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
To make the lentil bolognese
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- In a large saute pan, add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and minced garlic and cook 3-5 minutes until softened.
- Stir in the spices, bay leaves, salt and pepper and nutritional yeast. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the vegetable stock paste, water, tomato passata and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, stir in the cooked lentils. Cook for 20-25 minutes on medium-low.
- While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta to al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- You should have about 4 – 5 cups of lentil bolognese sauce once done cooking. If it's too thick, add about a 1/2 – 1 cup of water or vegetable stock and stir to combine. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
To make the pasta pie
- Grease a springform pan with butter and/or olive oil and set aside. Arrange the rigatoni in the pan, standing the noodles on their ends. Pour the lentil bolognese sauce over all the pasta, making sure to spread / pour the sauce into the holes of the pasta too. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- To make it spooky, top with bocconcini halves with an olive slice on top to resemble eyes. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until cheese has melted. Let sit 5-10 minutes before serving.
