It’s World Pasta Day so I’ve created an easy, nutritious and delicious pasta sauce for the occasion. Easily adaptable to make it vegan and gluten-free by swapping parmesan for a vegan hard cheese and pasta for gluten-free pasta.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 600g tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, left in their skins
• 1 red pepper, cut into quarters, seeds removed
• 1 large red onion, cut into quarters
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 100g red lentils
• 300ml water

To serve

• 300g pasta
• Parmesan
• Fresh basil

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C convection
• In a large baking tray add the tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onion and oil. Mix and roast for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan add the red lentils and 300ml water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes till soft.
• Once the vegetables are cooked through, remove the skin from the garlic and transfer everything to a high-speed blender with the cooked lentils and their cooking water. Blend till smooth, seasoning to taste.
• Stir through freshly cooked pasta, using a little reserved pasta water to let the sauce down to your desired consistency.
• Serve topped with parmesan and fresh basil.

Per serving: 530kcal/ 15g fat/ 3.6g saturated fat/ 74g carbohydrates/ 7.7g fibre/ 20g protein