This truly one-pot meal lets you cook the veggies and pasta all at the same time. As the leeks and dried mushrooms boil with the red lentil rotini, they turn the cooking water into an aromatic broth that makes a lovely sauce. Meanwhile, the leeks take on a light, buttery texture that melds deliciously with noodles. Because red lentil pasta cooks faster than other pastas, it’s best not to substitute whole grain pastas for the rotini here; the timing of this recipe is carefully synced.
Ingreadient
- 1 lemon
- 1 8.8-oz. package of dry red lentil rotini
- 3 cups sliced leeks
- ¾ cup sliced dried shiitake mushrooms or other dried mushrooms
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Direction
- Bring a large pot of water to boiling. Remove 1 tsp. zest from lemon. Cut the lemon into wedges and set aside.
- Add lemon zest, rotini, leeks, mushrooms, and rosemary to the pot. Boil 7 to 8 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Reserve 3 cups cooking water. Drain pasta and vegetables. Return pasta and vegetables to pot. Add enough of the reserved cooking water to moisten the pasta; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with the reserved lemon wedges to squeeze over top.
