Sausages and puy lentils

Lentils seem to be one of the in things on restaurant menus at the moment, but R thinks they are for Ethiopians and refuses to eat them. I have never cooked them at home before, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try and convert him.

I searched the internet for a recipe, and there seemed to be a number of similar ones, so I made up a variation based on what I had read.

Serves 2 (plus enough lentils for lunch the next day)

200g Puy lentils
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 whole cloves of garlic, unpeeled
Bay leaf
Olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

6 toulouse sausages

Heat the oven to about 200C.
Lightly coat the sausages in oil and place in a roasting tin lined with foil (saves washing up!) and cook for about half an hour until golden brown.

Meanwhile cook the onion gently in some olive oil in a saucepan. Keep the heat very low so that it does not burn. Once they are soft add the lentils and stir so they are coated with oil. Top up the pan with water so that the lentils are covered, and add the garlic and bay. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the lentils are done but retain some bite. Dress the lentils lightly with olive oil and the red wine vinegar.

Serve with a green veg (we had purple sprouting broccoli).
We found that we needed a strongly flavoured sausage such as the Toulouse, and it still needed some more flavour. Next time I think I might try something like the tomato salsa that Jamie Oliver suggests with his.