Inspired by Pass The Plants

Background

• Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, where to begin..
• Canned tomatoes are typically better than fresh because they are packed fresh in season. Canned tomatoes go from field to can in about 4.5 hours after being picked.
• However, there is also the issue of BPA-lined cans combined with a highly acidic food that could cause leaching.
• Try to pick up BPA-free cans and use them soon after purchase
• Crushed tomatoes and whole peeled tomatoes are most commonly used for chunky sauces like this one.
• Traditionalists advocate for whole peeled tomatoes because you can make any other kind of canned tomatoes from these.
• The NYT and Wirecutter did a tasting and recommend their favorite whole peeled tomatoes in this article.
• I previously used Muir Glen Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil and recently switched to Market Pantry (Target) Whole Peeled tomatoes. Use the best ones you can find.
• Red lentils in this sauce add some healthy protein and chunkiness. The pressure cooker causes them to pop in the sauce so you can barely tell they are there by the end
• You can either pureé the final result into a marinara or leave the chunky lentils in there for a vegan bolognese.

Ingredients

• Note: This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled

• 28 ounce cans crushed tomatoes or whole peeled tomatoes

• ½ cup red lentils (aka masoor dal at an Indian store)

• Basil (fresh, frozen or even dried)

• Olive oil

• 2-3 cloves of garlic (whole)

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 ½ cups water

Instructions

1. Rinse the lentils in a sieve and remove any stones or bad pieces.
2. Sauté the garlic, red lentils and salt in some olive oil for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, water and basil and stir so the lentils don’t stick to the bottom.
4. Pressure cook (no specific instructions needed, it’s hard to mess up)
5. After the pressure releases, remove the garlic for a subtler flavor or leave it in.
6. Pureé with an immersion blender to the desired texture, mash the sauce manually or let cool and pour into a blender to blitz
7. Serve over any kind of pasta drizzled with high-quality olive oil, use as the sauce in a lasagna, or even on a pizza