recipe reviews for:

Bolognese on a Budget

“This delicious bolognese is extremely quick and easy to make. Serve over pasta, rice, couscous, or any other carbohydrate food you fancy. This sauce gets better the longer it simmers. If you do allow it to simmer for a longer time, check regularly and add water as needed. This sauce also lends itself beautifully to adding vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, carrots, and mushrooms.”

Sort reviews by:
DATE
RATING
MOST HELPFUL

Reviewed: Jan. 27, 2012

bland. I tried to season it up w/ garlic, a bay leaf, and some italian seasoning. It didn't help. The lentils needed to simmer for a very long time to get flavor in them. Not similar to a bolognese sause at all.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Galila

Reviewed: Jan. 26, 2012

This was pretty good--at first I thought it was a little bland but I added some red pepper flakes and it grew on me. I added extra garlic, basil, parsley and oregano and used jarred pasta sauce instead of canned tomatoes. I used WAY more water than it called for because the lentils just kept absorbing and they took about 40 min to get soft. I don't care for the firm lentils. We have vegetarian twice a week so I'm always looking for something different.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
0 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

utahduh

Reviewed: Oct. 18, 2011

I really enjoyed this. It came together quickly and tasted great! I took the advice of others and added a whole veg bullion cube (1/2 a cube was one serving so I doubled it) and added 2 cloves minced garlic w the lentils. I also added a bay leaf w the tomatoes and some dried basil near the end. I'm vegan and this is a quick recipe I'm adding in regular rotation. My boyfriend (not a vegan) added Italian sausage cooked separately to his. Delish!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Kibbster

Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Jun. 24, 2010

This is such a healthy way to make a pasta sauce. I made a few mods: added garlic to flavor the lentils while they were cooking, and I used prepared tomato sauce. It's important to cook the lentils until they are really soft, so I added more water at the end until I liked the consistency. Yum!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

SUZIE33

Reviewed: Jul. 8, 2008

I made it wrong, I put in enough water to boil noodles instead of 1 3/4 c like the recipe called for. Consequently the sauce was very runny, even tho when I realized my mistake I measured the water out. That said, I was disappointed. I used flavored tomatoes and the sauce was still bland. I did like the use of the lentils. I'd give it one star, but I have to give it a little credit for my mistake. May try it again correctly, but not sure if it is worth it.

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

kg2943

Cooking Level: Beginning

Home Town: Arlington, Texas, USA

Living In: Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 7, 2008

Maybe I'm just not a big fan of lentils but I found this recipe kind of bland and not comparable to a good bolognese sauce. Perhaps it should be called Lentil and Tomato Sauce? My baby loved it though!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Linda

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Living In: Caboolture, Queensland, Australia

Reviewed: Jun. 13, 2008

Having never tasted a traditional Bolognese sauce before, I have nothing to compare this recipe with. Having said that, I really liked the way this turned out. I did add two bouillon cubes instead of one, because I like more flavor. Next time I would also add more seasonings, like garlic. I simmered this much longer than the five minutes specified in the end of the recipe. It really does get better the longer it simmers!

Was this review helpful? [ YES ]
5 users found this review helpful