I’ve had my eye on this recipe from 101 Things for a while now and decided to make a version of it at the weekend. Our enforced holiday last week meant that our eating really suffered, it was partly due to busyness but I suspect the lack of camera and therefore focus for our cooking also had a lot to do with it. In order to ensure the same thing didn’t happen again this week, we decided to spend Sunday batch cooking and this was just one of the dishes we cooked for the freezer.
We don’t cook a lot with lentils, Stephen is a big fan but I’m not so keen. I don’t mind these puy lentils so much though as they remain firm when cooked and it’s the squishiness I don’t like. I really enjoyed this though, while it was bubbling away we both kept going back to the kitchen to “check for seasoning” and were pleased with the way it came out; it tastes even better a couple of days later too as the flavours have combined really well. We just ate it on it’s own (although I would really like to try the lasagne) but it would be a great accompaniment to chicken or even with just some interesting vegetables. Next time I think I’d tinker with the recipe further: some red wine would be a good addition and although this was tasty without any herbs, I’d like to try it with some thyme too.
As predicted, trying to make the photograph look interesting was a challenge…we’re clearly out of practice 🙂
Although the recipe doesn’t vary much from the original and full credit must go to Fran at 101 Things, I’m going to type it up so that next time we make it we can remember what I’ve done.
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
100g smoked lardons
1 onion, finely diced
150g mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large tin chopped tomatoes (possibly add an additional small tin)
280g puy lentils
8 roasted tomatoes, chopped
1 pint vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Sweat onions, carrots, mushrooms and garlic until soft, add bacon and cook until fat has rendered.
Add all other ingredients and bring to the boil, simmer for 45 minutes….don’t forget to “check for seasoning” 🙂
Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Lentils'.
:: Trackbacks/Pingbacks ::
Pingback by Chilly Chilli « Butcher, Baker -
Pingback by Chilly Chilli » Butcher, Baker -
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Yay, you have your camera back! And I think the lentil dish looks very nice too. I usually make soup with them. If you stick to the unhulled ones, they shouldn’t go too mushy and if you pre-soak for a couple of hours, cooking time will drop dramatically. I tried hulled (or split) lentils in an Indian dish from Madhur Jaffrey and not only did I end up with puree, it tasted very much like the pumpkin cream I often make in the autumn. Now that was really weird.
Hello! Glad you liked the recipe. I do indeed add thyme sometimes, and it works well. Parsley too.
I also have a pork belly and puy lentil recipe that you might like ( I won’t spam your site with a link – it’s on the site and easy to find 🙂 ).
Hmm I’m looking at the picture and that suspicious stick in the foreground seems to indicate that we probably put thyme in it 🙂
I do rather like the split red lentils and enjoy the mushiness, but Kerri doesn’t 🙂 Or mixing red and brown together to get some mushiness and some firmer ones.
When cooking lentils in the past I’d usually add a pinch of sugar and a squeeze or lemon or drop of vinegar, but the tomatoes in this recipe meant that it didn’t need either of those.
And Caramella yes, we have the camera back 🙂 Kerri kindly went to fetch it yesterday even though it was me who forgot it!
I make lentils like this to serve with game sausages. Usually we add some rosemary and substitute half the stock with red wine.
This does sound really good. And I might even have the ingredients knocking about. Mmmm…
Thanks Holly, hope it turned out well!