Mushroom & Lentil Pasta

This fast pasta dish is so nourishing and delicious!

Once you have the ingredients in your kitchen, it takes roughly 15 minutes to cook.

I like to use a higher protein pasta such as lentil - you can use any type of pasta you like such as buckwheat, chickpea, or whole wheat.

Once the pasta is happily cooking away, I cook the vegetables, so by the time the pasta is cooked, the whole dish is ready!

The onions, garlic, mushrooms, lemon and greens all provide beneficial vitamins, including plenty of vitamin C, great for skin heath as well as whole body health. Plus all the vegetables contain polyphenols. Those polyphenols are so good not just for us humans but for our gut microbes to thrive too.
In perimenopause and menopause the gut can become out of balance due to the hormone changes, so it is good to focus on gut health as well.

If you'd like to see a video of the making of this easy pasta recipe, head over to my YouTube channel here.

4 portions of uncooked pasta - I like lentil pasta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large/160g red onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 large/275g portobello mushrooms
2 large handfuls chopped greens eg chard, kale or cavalo nero
1 lemon, zest & juice
Salt and pepper to taste

To finish: Toasted seeds, or crumbled feta cheese, or cooked chickpeas, or chopped cooked egg.

Pop your pasta on to cook following packet instructions.

In a large fry pan add the oil and onions. Cook on a medium heat until the onions are softened. Add the mushrooms, greens and garlic to the pan, toss around to lightly wilt the greens and soften the mushrooms slightly.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain out almost all the water, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the base to use to ‘moisturise’ the dish.

Tip the vegetables, lemon juice and zest, into the pasta and toss to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide into serving bowls and top with whatever extra protein you would like to use.