Cook the lentils in abundant salted water until soft (6-7 minutes). Drain them using a colander and with a fork try to squeeze the excess water.

In a blender add the cooked lentils, oat flour, nutritional yeast, olive oil, and salt and blend until a dough forms.

Transfer the dough on a floured worktop and knead until you have a soft yet compact dough. It is important that you keep your worktop floured as it will prevent the dough from sticking to it. If the dough is too sticky add a bit of flour but not too much (otherwise the gnocchi will be too dense). Once you're happy with the dough let it sit on your worktop for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 smaller sections. Divide each section in two and roll each section into a long, rope-like shape, about ½ inch in diameter. Cut the ropes into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch long. Keep the pieces separated from each other.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop the pockets into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. This usually takes about 1-2 minutes max. (wait for this step until your sauce is ready) Note: gnocchi cook very fast. As soon as they float to the surface they're ready. To avoid the gnocchi sticking to each other while cooking, boil them in batches.

Add peeled diced carrot, celery, onion to a food processor and blitz blend until finely chopped.

Heat up a good glug of oil on a non-stick pan then add the vegetable base. Cook for a couple of minutes then add the kalamata olives and let the flavours infuse for 3-4 minutes. Add tomato passata or chopped tomatoes. Add the bicarbonate of soda. You'll see the sauce start to form bubbles. This is a normal reaction. The bicarbonate of soda helps remove the acidity of the tomato.

Add salt and pepper, fresh basil and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Simmer regularly .A last touch is adding the nooch.

In the same pan where you cooked the sauce add the cooked gnocchi, simmer for a couple of minutes and serve hot with vegan parmesan or superstraccia and more basil