Even with meal planning there are days when I feel low, sick or just not in the mood to cook. It's times like these that my large chest freezer comes in handy - it's full of home-made bits and pieces that are ready to eat with minimal effort involved.
I keep a list of things that are in the freezer and work them into my weekly meal plans, and often I make extra of something in order to have portions on hand - it keeps the stock rotating nicely and I know that everything is home-made and preservative free. Currently in the freezer are home made beef and red-wine pies, lamb and lentil lasagne, sesame chicken balls, beef and bean casserole, barley and chorizo risotto and paprika beef stew. Some dishes actually taste better once they've been frozen - think of a rich gravy beef stew eaten a day after it was made; well, it turns out freezing does the same thing.
Sometimes I find myself wanting to cook even when dinner has already been planned and prepared. This is usually when I make some muffins or scones, but the other day I decided to make a lentil bolognaise - I have planned to make baked sweet potato with bolognaise topping and lentil enchiladas over the coming weeks. I figured I may as well make a big batch to freeze, so when those meals come around I will have minimal work to do.
Unfortunately, often-times when I'm cooking I neglect to take measurements, which makes typing up the recipe later a bit of a guessing game. I'm pretty sure I'm able to report the method and ingredients accurately, but your mileage may vary.
You can also easily convert this recipe to a Mexican flavour profile quite easily by adding jalapeños, red and green capsicum, some cumin and fresh coriander. Eating less meat is really easy and possible with legumes!
For Vegetarians and Vegans
This recipe is not strictly vegetarian as I use anchovy paste (glutimates = umami), but that can easily be replaced by soaking dried shitake mushrooms in hot water for 30 mins and using that water in the dish, and slicing the refreshed mushrooms thinly and adding those also. Seaweed is also a good substitute that has natural glutimates, or in a pinch some chopped olives added to the dish would work fine too.
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| Basic Ingredients - just add celery, carrot and onion |
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| A great flavour base |
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| Umami making goodness |
Recipe
Makes 6 - 8 serves
Cooking time 40 mins
Ingredients
4 large carrots, finely chopped
half a bunch of celery (about 6 stalks) finely chopped
2 brown onions, roughly chopped
olive oil
2 teaspoons anchovy paste (or vegetarian substitute - see note above)
140 grams tomato paste
400 gram can of Italian tomatoes
500 ml tomato passata
1 1/2 cup of green lentils
1 1/2 cup red lentils
water
salt
pepper
Method
In a large heavy based saucepan heat a tablespoon of olive oil and fry the onion and celery in batches.
Add the anchovy paste and stir fry for a minute, then add the tomato paste and fry for another minute.
Add the carrots and stir though. Add the canned tomatoes, the tomato passata and a cup of water to the pot. Add the green lentils, making sure there is enough liquid to cover the ingredients - if there is not, add more water. Bring pan to the boil and simmer for 20 mins, stirring occasionally.
Add the red lentils to the pot along with a half a cup of water and bring it back to a slow boil for another 20 mins. Taste the sauce and season as needed.
Once cool, portion out bolognaise sauce into freezer containers and label.
Some serving ideas for this sauce are
- spooned over baked sweet potato
- layered in a lasagne with fresh spinach and ricotta
- served over some wholemeal pasta
- made into enchiladas
- eaten for a savoury breakfast with toast and baked eggs
- scooped up with baked tortilla chips
- served on polenta
- made into a cottage pie
- . . . . the list goes on . . .
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| Each container has enough for two serves |
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| Ready for the freezer |
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