- Sausages and Lentils
This is really an autumnal – winter dish, but there are times when at the height of the English summer that good hearty fare is called for. This is one of those dishes. It has a sort of smokey, mediterranean taste but the back notes from the chorizo allow a bit of sweetness. This recipe is based on one by Nigel Slater (which is based on one by someone else…) but I have changed it out with some extra ingredients that add even more depth and flavour. This is a warming, filling supper and you need nothing more than some crusty bread to wipe it up with and wine to wash it down.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 sausages per person
- 2 medium onions cut into thick slices
- 2 cloves garlic and thinly slice
- 1 medium chorizo peeled and chopped into medium dices.
- 500gm crushed tomatoes
- 150g green or brown lentils (washed)
- 500mls water
- large glass red wine
- pinch of smoked pimento or peppers
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tbls olive oil.
METHOD
- Turn the oven to 160fan, 180 conventional. Heat the oil in a heavy based casserole dish, then peel and slice the onions into thick slices, throw then into the pot and cook over a medium heat until they are tender.
- Peel the garlic, thinly slice and throw into the pot – keep stirring you don’t want this to burn. Add the diced chorizo, leaving them in the pot so the juices run and coat everything. Give it all a stir then add the wine and stir it all together.
- Cook the sausages in a frying pan, colour them on the outside, but don’t worry they will cook through with the rest of the dish.
- Add the tomatoes into the onions pot, then the lentils with the water and bring the lot to the boil. Put the sausages into the pot along with the bay and then simmer the until the lentils are soft, about 40 minutes. Put the pot into the oven for 15 minutes and let the lot thicken.
- Give it a good season, remove the bay and serve.
Cooking At Zero Degrees 