(THE WASHINGTON POST) - Here is a heartwarming plate full of familiar food with an unfamiliar name: koshary. It can be spelled and pronounced different ways and have other things mixed in, but the basics include rice, lentils and pasta. What sets this version apart from the rest, to my mind, is the last-minute drizzle of melted butter with crushed red pepper flakes. When that hits the fresh mint, the humble dish sings.

It is a cinch to make with leftover rice and lentils. But if you do not have those around, canned or boxed, cooked lentils and frozen cooked rice work just as well and are easily obtained. (You may be able to score those two ingredients on a supermarket salad bar.) A second batch created for purposes of the accompanying photo disappeared into my colleagues' lunch bowls with lightning speed, which is just the kind of affirmation I like.

Koshary

3 to 4 servings

Adapted from Onions Etcetera: The Essential Allium Cookbook, by Kate Winslow and Guy Ambrosino (Burgess Lea Press, 2017).

INGREDIENTS

Kosher salt

½ cup dried ditalini pasta or macaroni (may substitute 1 cup-ish leftover cooked pasta)

1 large yellow onion

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

Leaves from 2 stems fresh mint

1¼ cups cooked lentils (from one396g can)

1¼ cups tomato sauce

1¼ cups cooked brown rice (may substitute white rice)

Freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbs unsalted butter

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

METHOD

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a generous pinch of salt and then the dried pasta. Cook according to the package directions, then drain.

2. Meanwhile, cut the onion into 1.5cm dice. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, stir in the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and browned in spots. Chop the mint leaves while the onion is cooking. Drain and rinse the lentils.

3. Stir the tomato sauce into the skillet; as soon as it has heated through, add the rice and lentils. Cook for a few minutes until heated through, then stir in the pasta. Taste and season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and stir in the mint, then divide the koshary among bowls you are keeping warm on the stove top.

4. Add butter to the now-empty skillet, over medium heat. Once it foams, add the pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, swirling to incorporate. Immediately drizzle some of the hot, spiced melted butter over each portion of koshary. Serve right away.

Nutrition | Per serving (based on 4): 360 calories, 9g protein, 44g carbohydrates, 16g fat, 7g saturated fat, 25mg cholesterol, 560mg sodium, 9g dietary fiber, 7g sugar