Meals for Under £10: How to make this tasty and freezable vegetarian spicy lentil stew

A HEALTHY vegetarian option made with green lentils, and plenty of veg and spices.

This lentil stew recipe is freezable, so you can make it ahead of schedule, ready for a quick and easy meal in no time when it’s needed.

It takes just 15 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to cook.

You’ll need

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large carrot, scrubbed and diced

2 celery sticks, trimmed and diced

250g white potatoes, peeled and diced

pinch crushed chillies

1 garlic clove, crushed

3 tomatoes, roughly chopped

250g lentilles vertes, rinsed

500ml reduced salt vegetable stock

4 tbsp low-fat natural yogurt, to serve

1 tbsp chopped parsley, to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the carrot, celery and potatoes, and cook, stirring, for around 15 minutes or until golden. Add the chilli and garlic and cook for a further one minute.

Stir in the tomatoes and lentils. Add the vegetable stock and 500ml hot water and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the lentils are just tender.

Transfer a large ladleful of the lentils to a large jug or bowl and use a hand blender to blitz until smooth. Pour back into the pan and season to taste. Ladle into bowls, top with a dollop of yogurt and scatter with the parsley.

To freeze, leave to cool completely before pouring into a freezerproof container (without the yogurt or parsley). To reheat, remove from the freezer one hour before cooking. Reheat in a large saucepan, covered, over a low-medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until piping hot. Once reheated from frozen, eat on the same day – do not reheat a second time.