Slow Cooker Pasta with Lentils From Vicki Delany

 As you know I love my slow cooker and I’m always on the lookout for good recipes to try.  I found a book titled “Slow Victories” by Katrina Meynink on sale at my local bookstore.  This is the first recipe I tried, I adapted it slightly, and it turned out well.  The taste of lentils is strong, so if you don’t care for lentils I’d advice not making this.

I don’t usually go to so much trouble when cooking in the slow cooker, I prefer the throw it all in and let it cook for a long time method.  But it did turn out very well, and the idea of adding the pasta at the end was brilliant as it really absorbs the flavours. 

The original recipe is designed for slow cookers with a sauté function, which mine doesn’t have. I just did the sauté part on the stove and then put it in the cooker.

Slow Cooker Pasta with Lentils

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 cup green lentils, rinsed

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 ½ cups vegetable stock

400 g (15 oz) short pasta

1/3 cup whole milk

Directions:

Heat olive oil in frying pan, add onions and garlic and cook on medium low for about 10 minutes, until onions are soft and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.  

Add lentils, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaves, and chilli flakes. Cook for three minutes, then add the vinegar and stock.

Put everything into the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours.

Set the slow cooker to high, wait ten minutes for it to heat up, and then add pasta and milk

Cook for 20 – 25 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving.

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