Lentil Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• Green (aka brown) lentils — 1 cup (note that small brown lentils tend to keep their shape i.e. not go mushy, more than larger ones. Depending on your taste, this may affect which ones you buy.)
• Chickpeas — two large handfuls or approx. 1/2 cup
• Bay leaves — 1 or 2, broken into halves or thirds
• Onion — 1, finely chopped
• Garlic — 2 cloves, chopped finely or crushed
• Carrots — 2, chopped into 1/2 cm dice or similar size
• Celery — 3 stalks, similar to the carrots
• Peas — 1 cup (whatever looks right)
• Tomato paste — equivalent of a 140g tub
• Herbs (‘Italian Herbs’, parsley)
• Freshly boiled water
• Kalamata olives (optional) — 15 to 20+ (whatever looks right) pitted and chopped
• Vegetable stock (optional; we use Massel brand - it's vegan and gluten free so it's suitable for a range of dietary requirements) — 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon

Method:

1. Check the chickpeas for foreign items and 'dead' (dark brown) chickpeas; rinse and drain.
2. Put the chickpeas in a large saucepan, cover with boiled water and put on a medium to high heat (you want everything to simmer). Chickpeas take about 50 mins to cook.
3. Check the lentils for foreign items (e.g. other seeds, small stones); rinse and drain.
4. 5 mins after the chickpeas, add the lentils and the bay leaves.
   • N.B. Since the lentils take about 45 mins to cook, you can peel and chop all the veges as you go, rather than having done all of this beforehand.
   • N.B. During the cooking you can turn down the heat (you want it to simmer, not boil dry)
5. Add the stock (optional), bay leaves, onion, garlic, carrot and celery. As you add each thing, check the water level — you want it to be just covered with enough water to allow the latest vegetable you've added to cook.
6. Boil some more water for the pasta.
7. About 15 minutes before serving time, put the pasta in a pot to cook.
8. Add the peas. By this stage, the rest of the dish should be moist enough to cook the peas just by stirring them in and leaving them. If you like a runny pasta sauce then you can add water to suit, otherwise just make sure there's enough moisture to not boil dry and stick to the bottom. Also add the olives at this stage if you're using them.
9. Add the herbs with the peas if they are dried, or with the tomato paste if they are fresh.
10. About 10 minutes after the peas, add the tomato paste and stir in well, making sure that the sauce in the corners of the pan also get pasted.
11. Pasta should be ready by this stage.
12. Serve and enjoy!