This recipe cooks the meat sauce and pasta in one pot - genius! You could eat it straight out of the pot but tipping it into an ovenproof dish, covering it with a little grated cheese and waiting until it's all bubbly and gorgeous takes it to another level. And at just over £1 per serving, it's another one of our meals for four for under a fiver!
Ingredients
1 medium onion, finely chopped
250g beef mince
1x 400g tin of green lentils, drained
1x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato puree
250g dried wholegrain pasta shapes
½ tsp mixed dried herbs
A pinch each of salt and ground black pepper
1x beef stock cube
700ml water
75g cheddar, finely grated
Method
Gently fry the mince and onion in a large saucepan for 5 minutes over a medium-high heat, regularly stirring and breaking the beef up.
Add the lentils, tomatoes, pasta, tomato puree, mixed herbs, salt and pepper to the pan, crumbling the stock cube over the top.
Stir in 700ml water and cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 18-20 minutes or until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened.
Stir occasionally towards the end of the cooking time to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick and if the sauce isn’t thickening up enough remove the lid, which will help to reduce the liquid a little.
Transfer to an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with cheese and place under a hot grill for 3-5 minutes then serve, sprinkled with a little parsley if you have it.
Tips: You can use any minced meat for this recipe, especially if another mince is on offer.
Also bigger packs are usually better value for money so you can freeze the remainder to use at a later date.
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