After having previously talked about the virtues of legumes and therefore of vegetable proteins, let's discover some mouth-watering recipes!
FROM 18 MONTHS
Chests of polenta and lentils 
INGREDIENTS (for 4 people) 200 g of corn flour, a taste of EVO oil, a taste of salt, 150 g of hulled red lentils, lemon zest, chopped parsley, 1 buffalo mozzarella
Rinse the lentils and simmer them in lightly salted water for 15 minutes, then drain. Prepare the polenta by boiling the water with the salt in a saucepan. Sprinkle in the flour and, a little later, also the oil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming; lower the heat and continue cooking for about 50 minutes, taking care not to let the polenta stick. Take some non-stick muffin moulds, pour the polenta into them with a spoon, grease your hands with oil and flatten it along the walls, creating baskets (they will be our caskets). Bake them in a hot oven at 200°C for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a baking tray covered with baking paper and fill them with lentils; insert a piece of mozzarella in each one, season with a drizzle of oil, grated lemon peel and parsley. Put the tray with the caskets back in the oven (still hot but turned off), just long enough for the cheese to soften.
FOR 15 MONTHS
Pasta and chickpeas
INGREDIENTS (for 4 people) 280 g of short pasta, 200 g of dried chickpeas, 150 g of peeled tomatoes, 1/2 onion, oil and salt to taste, grated parmesan (optional)
Soak the chickpeas in the evening and drain them the following morning. Cook them in boiling water for at least 3 hours and then drain them. In a large frying pan, pour a drizzle of oil, the onion into thin slices, a little water and cook for 10 minutes, then add the peeled tomatoes and continue cooking for another 20 minutes. Add the chickpeas, season with salt. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, drain it and dress it with the chickpea and tomato sauce, sprinkling with Parmesan if desired.Taken from Nascere Mamma
FOR LITTLE GOURMETS 
Black Bean Cocoa Cookies
INGREDIENTS 1 can of black beans (about 240 g drained), 30 g of rice flour, 30-40 g of cane sugar, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, 1 pinch of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of cocoa, a few drops of extract vanilla, dark chocolate chips (optional)
In a mixer, reduce the beans to a puree; add the sugar, flour, oil, baking soda, cocoa and vanilla and blend until well blended. On a pan lined with baking paper, divide it into small portions and work them to give the biscuits the preferred shape (even with the help of molds). Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. Idea for chocolate lovers: once the dough is obtained, divide it into two parts and, in one part, add some chocolate chips. Then proceed to the preparation of cookies.
FOR GORGEOUS
Red bean brownies
INGREDIENTS 120 g of dried red beans, 1-2 tablespoons of soy milk, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 eggs, 4 dates, 2 tablespoons of cocoa, a few drops of vanilla extract, 1 /2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 pinch of salt, 60 g of dark chocolate, 2 tablespoons of flaked almonds
Another delicious recipe with legumes! Soak the beans in the evening and drain them the following morning, after at least 12 hours of soaking. Let them cool and combine them in a mixer with soy milk, coconut oil, sugar, whole eggs, pitted dates, cocoa, vanilla, baking powder and salt, blend to mix everything well. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie, then add it to the paste obtained and operate the mixer again, but only for a few seconds. Pour the mixture into a pan lined with baking paper and level it with a spatula so that it is about 3 cm high. Sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake in a preheated static oven at 180° C for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and then cut into regular squares to obtain brownies of the same size.
Low-fat, gluten-free: these recipes for sweets with legumes are ideal for children!
