Extended spaghetti sauce

This basic meat sauce is made extra thick and filling with the addition of red lentils. These melt away into the sauce and you won't taste them at all, but they'll add plenty of extra nutrtion and heartiness, for only a few extra pennies in price!

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
  
• 3 garlic cloves, diced, or 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
  
  
• 750 grams ground beef, pork, or a mixture of both
  
  
• 2 stalks celery, sliced (optional)
  
  
• 2 large carrots, grated (optional)
  
  
• 1/2 cups red lentils
  
  
• 1 28 oz/798 mL can diced tomatoes
  
  
• 2 cups vegetable or beef broth
  
  
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  
  
• pinch salt and pepper
  
  
• pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Heat oil on medium heat in large skillet or pot. Add diced onion and garlic, and sautee until soft (around 5 minutes)
   
   
2. Increase heat to medium high, and add ground meat. Break into large chuncks, and cook until browned (around 10 minutes)
   
   
3. Stir in all other ingredients, and reduce heat so that the sauce is simmering. Cook, stirring occasionally, for around 20-25 minutes.

• Lean ground meat will work better for this recipe; fattier meat may result in greasy sauce.
  
  
• Adjust seasonings to taste while sauce is simmering.

• The carrots and celery can be left out if you don't have them on hand.
  
  
• To make the sauce vegan, leave out the meat and increase the lentils to 2 1/2 cups. Use vegetable broth instead of beef.
  
  
• Serve sauce over pasta to make spaghetti or a baked casserole, or spoon over buttered bread to make sloppy joes.

• Cool sauce completely, cover, and store in fridge for up to 3 days.
  
  
• Ladle sauce into sealable containers, and store in freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe adapted from Alberta Pulse Growers Association

Food is Too Expensive! was funded by the City of Saskatoon through our Healthy Yards partnership, the Cyril Capling Trust Fund of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Department of Plant Sciences. Focus group research to inform this work was collected by CHEP. Thank you all for helping us make healthy food more accessible!