Finely chop the onion.

Crumble the dried thyme.

Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

Cook the onion and thyme in the oil, stirring, until the onion is golden.

Combine the lentils with 1 1/3 cups of water in a separate pot.

Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes.

Chop the carrot fine.

Add the carrot to the lentils and simmer, covered, for 3 minutes, or until the lentils and carrot are just tender.

Transfer the lentil mixture with the liquid to the skillet.

Season with salt and pepper.

Keep the lentil mixture at a bare simmer while cooking the pasta.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.

Add the rotelle pasta and boil until al dente.

Ladle out and reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta liquid.

Drain the pasta.

Add the drained pasta to the lentil mixture in the skillet.

Simmer the pasta mixture, tossing it to combine it, for 1 minute.

Add some of the reserved pasta liquid to moisten the mixture if necessary.

Mince the fresh parsley leaves.

Stir in the parsley.

Transfer the mixture to a heated serving bowl.

Serve the pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese as an accompaniment.