Seriously, seriously yummy. Yes…this is a newy and an instant favourite. It doesn’t look sexy, but it tastes fantastic. Never would I have thought that the humble lentil/sausage combination could be so good. Apparently this is a very common dish in France.

The lentils I use are called bondi lentils (also known as puy lentils). They don’t go mushy when cooked. This recipe comes from Food Cook Eat by Lulu Grimes. It has great pictures (so you actually know what you are supposed to be cooking), and some fabulous salads. My friend Stephanie gave me this cookbook about 7 years ago, and I use it all the time.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 55g pancetta – I used thinly sliced, but you can use cubed
• 1 red onion – finely chopped
• 6 continental pork sausages
• 1 garlic clove – peeled and smashed (with the blade of the knife)
• 1 sprig of thyme leaves – I used some from the garden
• 2/3 cup of bondi/puy lentils
• 1 1/2 cups of tinned chicken consomme (you can use chicken stock – it works perfectly)
• 4 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche

What you will need

• Medium sized saucepan
• Medium-large sized frypan

What to do

1. Cover the lentils in water and simmer for about 20 mins to slightly soften (I tried cooking this dish without doing this, and the lentils were way to hard even after 25 mins of simmering. So now, I do it separately to be sure)
2. In a hot frypan, brown and crisp the pancetta, and remove
3. Cook the sausages and remove
4. Cook the onion
5. Add the sausages, pancetta back to the onion, and add the garlic, thyme, lentils, stock/consumme and bring it all to the boil
6. Cook for 10 – 15 mins, until you are happy that the lentils are soft enough
7. Add the spinach and allow to soften, but remain vivid green
8. Add the creme fraiche and mix through
9. Add pepper (I found this dish didn’t require any salt at all)
10. Serve with crusty bread (and I served it with steamed carrots, broccoli just to ensure enough vege’s are consumed in my household)

We doubled this recipe the other night, and it was devoured by 4 adults, and I could have made more.