Gardener’s Bolognese (VO) from The Farm Kitchen

By Erin Brown
Related Categories: Cookbook Confidential

“This is the perfect recipe to use up harvest gluts. Any weird or wonky veg, tomatoes that are yet to ripen, and even the last of the courgettes (or often, in my case, marrows) that you have run out of ideas for, can all be thrown in and cooked down to make a generous, filling sauce. No one needs to know that it isn’t the first flush of the season – all cooked together with love, this provides so much more than the sum of its parts.” Abby Allen, author of The Farm Kitchen

A drizzle of organic rapeseed oil

2 onions, finely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and grated

2 courgettes, grated

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

400g (14oz) chestnut mushrooms

100g (3½oz) British green lentils, cooked and drained

A handful of cherry tomatoes

175ml (6fl oz) red wine

800g (1lb 12oz) Preserved Tomatoes (see page 77 of The Farm Kitchen)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

A few sprigs of rosemary

A few springs of thyme

2 bay leaves

400g (14oz) rigatoni pasta

50g (1¾oz) hard cheese (Pecorino or Old Winchester work well), finely grated

Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add the oil to a cast-iron pan and place over a medium heat. Tip in the onions, carrots, courgettes, celery and garlic along with a good pinch of sea salt. Sweat the veg down for around 10 minutes, or until everything has softened.

Turn up the heat and add the mushrooms, lentils and cherry tomatoes. Once the pan is nice and hot, add the red wine and allow it to bubble. Pour in the tomato passata and Worcestershire sauce, stirring everything together. Throw in the herbs and check the sauce for seasoning; you may want to add a little more salt or some pepper here. Reduce the heat and let the sauce gently simmer away for around 30 minutes until everything has thickened and the flavours have intensified. If the sauce looks a little too thick for your liking, simply add a little water.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook for about 8–9 minutes, ensuring the pasta still retains a little bite. Drain, then toss the pasta through the sauce. Finish with a hefty shower of black pepper and a generous grating of hard cheese.