Recipe

Brothy lentils with sausages and balsamic onions

Finish with sour cream and parsley
Finish with sour cream and parsley Credit: Eleanor Steafel

Usually, I go into January raring to try new recipes, cook with new flavours, and eat differently. If nothing else, a glance at my bank balance tends to be enough to force me to find novel ways to make dinner from whatever is already in the store cupboard. For some reason it has taken me a bit longer to get into the swing of things in the kitchen this year. Lacking in inspiration, I found myself staring at supermarket shelves with an empty basket on my arm, not knowing what I wanted to eat. I know, it’s a tragic little tale isn’t it.

Anyway, as always it was a roast chicken that sorted me out. I’m not sure there are many things a roast chicken couldn’t solve. And on the occasion that I actually get my act together to make stock from the leftovers, it has the added benefit of enabling you to feel incredibly smug about the litres of glistening homemade broth in your arsenal. Good stock is like a secret weapon and will make every risotto, soup and stew you make from it taste a thousand times more flavoursome. Storm Brendan might be raging, but I have four litres of aromatic chicken stock in my fridge (or, if I’m honest, still sitting in the pan it was made in on the hob), so I’m feeling pretty good about my chances of survival should it become too dangerous to leave the house.

I flavoured mine with a little fennel, chilli and star anise, along with the usual bay leaves, onions, celery and carrot, and chucked in some white wine and fish sauce to give it extra oomph. It has already had a second life as a mushroom risotto and a third life as a zingy laksa. For its next incarnation I wanted something soothing and simple. These lentils, with a hint of chilli and a little red wine vinegar stirred through at the end, make such a satisfying bowlful. I’ve served them here with sausages, roasted balsamic onions, handfuls of parsley and dollops of sour cream. We’re all agreed that January properly started this week, aren’t we? Good.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 50 minutes 

SERVES

6

INGREDIENTS

  • Olive oil, for frying
  • 3 onions, 1 finely chopped, 2 peeled and cut into wedges root to tip
  • 1 celery stick, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped (seeds removed depending on how hot the chilli is)
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 500g puy lentils, rinsed in cold water
  • 1 litre chicken stock (homemade or the best you can find)
  • 1 parmesan rind, plus extra parmesan for serving
  • 12 sausages, something well seasoned like Cumberland, or Italian fennel
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 small bunch parsley, roughly torn
  • Sour cream, to serve

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
  2. Set a large pan with a lid over a medium heat with a good glug of oil. Add the finely chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Cook with the lid on for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the celery and cook for another five minutes. Then add the chilli, garlic and bay leaves and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the tomato puree, turn up the heat and cook for a minute.
  3. Add the lentils and fry in the onion mixture, stirring well. Then pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Don’t boil. Simmer for about 45 minutes until the lentils are soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
  4. Meanwhile, set a large frying pan over a medium heat with a splash of oil. Brown the sausages and onions in batches, so they take on a good colour. Then put them on a roasting tray and put in the oven while the lentils are cooking, for about 30 minutes. Five minutes before they are done, drizzle a little balsamic over them, give them a shake and let them have another few minutes in the oven.
  5. Stir the red wine vinegar and mustard through the lentils, as well as salt and pepper to taste.
  6. To serve, ladle the lentils into deep bowls and top with sausages, onions, parsley and sour cream. Let people add a little grated parmesan at the table if they so desire.
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