Lentil Balls in Tomato Sauce

📝 Ingredients

• 200 g dried green lentils
• 2 brown onions (about 120 g each)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 eggs
• 70 g breadcrumbs
• 40 g grated Parmesan (30 g for the balls, 10 g for serving)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin + 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes (800 g)
• 300 g spaghetti
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• 2 saucepans (one of them large)
• Large sauté pan
• Blender
• Mixing bowl
• Baking tray and baking paper

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the lentils and put them in a saucepan with three times their volume of cold water, without salt (it toughens the skins). Bring to the boil, then cook for 20 to 25 min over a medium heat, until very tender and easily mashed with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, finely chop the onions and garlic. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the sauté pan over a medium heat and fry them for 5 to 6 min, stirring, until translucent but not browned. Tip half into a mixing bowl and leave the rest in the sauté pan, off the heat.
3. Drain the lentils thoroughly, then spread them on a large plate and leave to cool for 10 min: they lose their steam and the mixture will be less sticky. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 °C and line the baking tray with baking paper.
4. Pulse the lentils in the blender to a coarse purée that keeps a little texture. Add them to the bowl with the eggs, breadcrumbs, 30 g Parmesan, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix: the mixture should hold together when pressed.
5. With wet hands, shape about twenty balls roughly 4 cm in diameter (if the mixture is too sticky, chill it for 10 min). Place them on the tray and brush with the remaining spoonful of oil.
6. Bake for 20 min at 200 °C, turning the balls halfway through, until golden and firm to the touch. Meanwhile, put the sauté pan back over a medium heat, add the tomato purée and stir for 1 min.
7. Pour the chopped tomatoes and oregano into the sauté pan, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 min over a low heat, half covered. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet, keeping it al dente.
8. Place the cooked balls in the sauce and simmer for 5 min over a low heat, spooning the sauce over them rather than stirring, as they're still fragile. Serve on the drained spaghetti, sprinkled with the rest of the Parmesan.