Winter Pasta Dish

Well, tonight I am typing this on a strange pc, as I am staying in Independence tonight, which as most know is the worst place on the face of the earth, and yet the food is good:-).......Tonight's dish is Lentils and Pasta with Greens........I have to say, that I honestly could not remember ever having eaten a Lentil.

I will list out the ingredients, but I can say that my friend surprised me with the fact that she had ever single ingredient I need except two, so here we go.....

I had to buy the following two items

2/3 cups fried lentils, green or other variety(had to buy this and got green as suggested)

1 pound swiss chard(had to buy this and I have never eat this before, but I got the chard, it did not say swiss, but I figure chard is chard.......I hope)


Here is everything she already had

2 bay leaves

Coarse Salt and freshly ground pepper(ok, well turns out she did not have coarse salt, she said she figured salt was salt, so I set her straight with a bit of salt knowledge........she laughed and called me a nerd)

10 to 12 ounces of pasta(I used bowtie)

3 tablespoons evoo

1 small boiling onion chopped(she had onions, not sure if they are boiling onions, but again, I am not sure what a boiling onion is)

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can,14 ounces, vegetable broth

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon ground cumin

A handfull chopped fresh parsley


Cover lentils with water and bring to a boil. Add bay leaf and cook until lentils are tender, 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, put a large pot of water over a high heat for pasta(On a side note, I have made a mental note that as her next gift, my special friend is getting herself a new set of pots and pans from me, although I prefer doing all the cooking in this relationship, her pots/pans are just not doing it for me......a change is required and as soon as possible, a trip to crate and barrel is called for)

When the water boils, ass salt and pasta. Cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain.

Preheat a large skillet and add evoo. Add remaining bat leaf, the onion, carrots, red bell pepper, and garlic. Saute 10 minutes over medium heat. Add wine and cook to reduce liquid, 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute more. Add vegetable broth and Swiss Chard, cover. Once greens have wilted, season with allspice, cumin, salt and pepper. Continue cooking until greens are tender, about 10 minutes.

When greens are tender and no longer bitter, uncover and stir in drained pasta, lentils and parsley. Adjust seasonings and serve with crusty bread.


The verdict..........ok, I liked this really well, great vegetarian dish. My friend enjoyed this, as did her dog..............so over all....this was a good meal.


I will be back cooking in the home tomorrow, so the next post will be a bit more rebust........

until tomorrow..........