Now, first, the recipe called for a pound of pasta but I find I like more "sauce" and less pasta so halved the original pound and found it just to my taste. If you like more pasta, cook a full pound rather than my half.

Cook the lentils, carrots, half the onion and enough water to cover over medium heat.  Cover when the water hits a low simmer and cook 2o-30 minutes, stirring periodically and watching the liquid.  Beans and lentils can take various amounts of time to cook depending on how old they are so test and cook longer if needed.

Add the tomato, salt and pepper and half the marjoram, stir, and cook another 10 minutes or so, then keep warm over very low heat.  Or do the recipe up until this point ahead of time and then refrigerate and freeze and pull the lentils out later.

Heat 2 Tbs of olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan and cook the other half of the oven, stirring, for 10 minutes or so, until it just becomes slightly brown and crisp.

Put a large pot of water on to boil, add a pinch of salt then cook 1/2 pound or so of dried small pasta, like elbows, until done. Drain, reserving a cup or so of the water.

Stir the cooked and drained pasta into the onions and add the lentils, plus the garlic and the rest of the marjoram plus the olive oil. If it seems overly dry, add some of the reserved pasta water.  Heat for 2-3 minutes and serve.