one-pot lentils cacciatore

Lentils cacciatore is a one-pot, cozy sauce with deep flavors for a comforting plant-based meal using ingredients you likely already have on hand.

What is cacciatore?

In Italian cuisine, cacciatore means a dish prepared 'hunter-style' with onions, herbs, usually tomatoes, often bell peppers, and sometimes wine. We’re going to hit all those ingredients, sans the hunter part. Unless, of course, hunting means searching for that bag of red lentils in your pantry. 

I can’t speak to the hunting aspect of this meatless meal, but if you’re hungry and in a hurry, this is a great choice. In all honesty, it takes about 35 – 40 minutes, including the vegetable prep and gathering your ingredients.

Rosemary is the main spice for this recipe, although I added red chili flakes as well. You’ll find rosemary crushed, as flakes or whole, dried seeds. Either can be used. Let’s make it easy, use equal amounts, 1 tablespoon. If you use fresh rosemary, add 1 ½ tablespoons. Dried herbs and spices are generally more potent.

Have everything ready before you start cooking. Start out by heating the pot before you add the shallots, peppers, and carrots. This helps prevent them from sticking or disintegrating. This is an essential technique for successful no-oil sauteing. Although sometimes, you may want to add a tablespoon of broth or water, in this case, the red peppers will have sufficient moisture to aid this endeavor.

Usually, I'd suggest sauteing the garlic for 30 seconds. In this recipe, you'll add garlic along with the rosemary, chili flakes, capers, and tomato paste. Stir all the ingredients. Then allow the tomato paste to cook for at least a minute. You're using the heat of the pan to reduce and concentrate the paste. 

The wine (or broth is you choose) is for deglazing. That’s the process where you add liquid to a heated pan to pick up all the tasty, caramelized bits on the bottom. This stops the cooking process momentarily to prevent burning.

Let the wine cook down and the alcohol to dissipate, then add the tomatoes. I used canned cherry tomatoes, so I needed to use the back of a wooden spoon to crush them a bit. Your other option is to use crushed tomatoes. Let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes so that they reduce and concentrate their flavor.

Add the rinsed lentils and water or vegetable broth. You can cover the pot or leave it uncovered. I usually cook lentils uncovered, or at the least,  cock the lid. That’s because I can easily control the heat and not end up having to clean the stovetop. That’s my technique for mitigating my propensity for distraction.

Tips for making lentils cacciatore

We love the flavor that red wine brings to this pot. If you opt to not use wine, you can deglaze the pot with vegetable broth or even a mix of water with a teaspoon of soy sauce or vegan Worcestershire sauce.

No shallots? No problem. Use a small red or yellow onion. Cut it in half, from stem to end, then slice the halves into half-moons.

Capers add a lemony, olive-like, and salty flavor. ¼ of a cup won’t overwhelm the other flavors. Some cacciatore recipes use green (or sometimes) black olives. You can add to or substitute for the capers in this recipe if you like. We skipped them to keep the fat content of this recipe down.

Split red lentils will cook quicker and be a bit creamier than whole, although you can use whichever you have on hand. Allow 15 – 20 minutes for the spit and add another 5-10 minutes for the whole lentils. Add more water as needed.

Canned tomatoes will provide a much deeper flavor than fresh; however, you can substitute fresh tomatoes if that’s what you have on hand. Use 2 cups of diced tomatoes and increase the tomato paste by 1 tablespoon.

Cacciatore is one of those meals that is surprisingly filling. Serious comfort food. We really enjoy it with pasta, although it’s equally yummy with rice. Consider the timing of the pasta and rice. You may want to start the rice before starting the cacciatore, depending on what kind you use. I filled the pasta pot with water before I started cooking and got it heating right before I added the lentils and broth.

And by all means, baked up our favorite hemp seed parmesan. It takes minutes and will be done right before the lentils.

Final Thoughts

How much do I love a meal that’s easy to prepare, with deep, rich flavors built for warmth? So much that we’ve been enjoying lentils cacciatore multiple times over the past month. That’s since I first concocted it.

I keep thinking that I’ll run out of ways to cook red lentils. I’m not abandoning my favorite red lentil dal or spinach curry anytime soon but expanding the lentil repertoire to Italian cuisine opens up a whole new world. Red lentils, watch this space! Peace.

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