Spaghetti with lentils, and aubergine veggie-balls: Jacob Kenedy’s autumn pasta recipes

A deliciously humble lentil and spaghetti dish, and a meat-free riff on meatball pasta made with aubergine veggie-balls Some plant-based pasta dishes are light, bright and summery – pesto genovese , tomato sauce, aglio e olio – but some have an umami and complexity that is normally associated with more carnal pleasures. Here are two.

Pasta with lentils is a firm personal and family favourite – my mum and I make this dish whenever we fancy something really comforting, and the earthiness of the lentils plays against grassy olive oil and parsley, and the texture of the pasta. True cucina povera – a humble meal, and deliciously so. Veggie-balls are also great things. Polpette (normally translated as meatballs) is just balls (of anything pulped), after…