Easy. Satisfying. Filling. Homely.

Food painting artwork

30 x 30cm oil on canvas. Gleefully inspired by the musical abstract paintings of the later years of the Russian master Kandinsky.

The best thing about this recipe is the way my carnivorous friends get to the very last mouthful and then say in a shocked voice with eyes aghast, 'does this have lentils in it?'. Priceless.

The next thing they say is, 'wow, that was delicious!'.

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced or chopped fine

2 carrots, grated (secret ingredient)

1/2 teaspoon salt

800g tomato, chopped small or puree in a blender

50g sundried tomato, chopped roughly or added to the blender mix

2 tablespoons of oil from the sundried tomato

125g mushroom, chopped or sliced or diced

1 zucchini, grated

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

20g or about 2 cups fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

400g cooked lentils

Cook the garlic, salt, onion and carrot in the olive oil until they are very soft.

Add all the other ingredients and simmer with the lid off for at least 25 minutes until you are happy with the consistency.

Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on spaghetti or your favourite pasta shape after removing the bay leaf.

Feeds 6.