Puy Lentils - any ideas?

misery-able

Am starting to sort out my over full cupboards and get to grips with my food budget once and for all, have had a good(ish) January but am now seeking to reduce the stock pile. I will no doubt be asking for more help in the days/weeks ahead, but for the moment I have found two boxes of puy lentils vying for my attention and to be honest don't really know what they will work with. (How did I come to get 2 boxes?). Vegetarian ideas please..... any inspiration would be truly appreciated. :beer:

thriftlady_2

One of my favourite things to do with Puy lentils is this (inspired by Nigel Slater)

Cook them until still quite firm (20 min or so). Fry some onion and garlic in olive oil, then toss in some frozen peas - petits pois are best.You want about equal quantities of peas and lentils. Stir about until the peas are nicely coated with garlicky oil and have defrosted. Combine with the cooked lentils. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Scatter on some chopped herbs - mint is good. Serve with a big dollop of natural yogurt.

Not tried it, but I bet this would be good with some feta crumbled over.

Meanymoo

Mmm, love Puy lentils! Cook according to the instructions on the packet (basically boil until tender), add a couple of garlic cloves to the cooking water, peeled and cut in half, for a garlicky flavour - if you like garlic of course. Eat with salt and pepper and a little butter as a side dish. They go well with veggie sausages like Cauldron, jacket potatoes, eggs, spinach... probably loads of things I can't think of right now. Or eat cold with a salad dressing. Yum!

HariboJunkie

Add them to Shepherd's pie, moussaka, curries etc to pad them out.

Pandora123_2

This is one of my fave soups.

Lentil Soup with Garlic and Tomatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil
5 large cloves garlic finely chopped (18g)
450g fresh tomatoes, finely chopped (tasty organic ones are best)
185g dried French lentils, rinsed
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy pot over a medium flame. When hot put in the garlic. Stir and fry till the garlic browns lightly. Add the tomatoes. Stir and cook for 5-15 minutes or until most of the tomato liquid is evaporated and tomatoes have softened and can be mashed into a paste. Add the lentils and 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil then cover, lower heat and simmer gently for one hour. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Can also be made in a slow cooker (but still saute garlic & tomatoes).

:A

Pink_butterfly_3

Lentils in everything!!!! Honestly.

I put them in casseroles, cottage pie, spag bol, soups.... the list could go on and on.

FemmeAuFoyer

400g green lentils
2 carrots
1 onion studded with 2 cloves
15g butter
15g flour
250ml cream
bayleaf
small grating nutmeg
salt pepper

Wash lentils. Put them in large casserole dish, cover with cold water, add the onion, carrots (cut up), bay leaf, salt pepper and nutmeg. Cook for 20-30 minutes.

In another saucepan make a roux with the butter and flour, add the cream bit by bit until you have a nice sauce. Add the cooked lentils and a little bit of their cooking water if necessary so there's enough sauce, let cook slowly for 5 mins and serve.

Here in France lentils are served with sausages and my children love this with sausages and carrots.

Mrs_Froogle

I love them too!! you could fry off some lardons or other fatty bacon, then fry off onions and garlic and mix it all up with some boiled lentils and pepper (you probably won't need salt because of the bacon)

Jo

PS I'd love to know where you are in France, lafemmefoyer, because I have a house there too - near Cahors

kittiwoz

I fry finely chopped onion, celery, carrot and garlic then add lentils, water and a bay leaf and simmer for about 20 mins. Then I add a spoonful of bouillon powder (or use a stock cube) a splash of white wine or lemon juice and some olive oil and cook for another 5-10 mins.

I make lentils and peas like thriftylady does too and it is really yummy. I'm going have to try it with feta now because I've got some in the fridge and I think it sounds like like a great idea. You can put lettuce in too along with the peas so it cooks down and goes soft and adds a nice sweetness like with petit pois a la Francais.

The box I have suggests mixing cooked lentils with finely chopped chillies, sundried tomatoes and goats cheese to make a salad but I haven't tried that one.

I like lentils a lot. I think they're very flavoursome with a good texture and they absorb other flavours well too especially while they're still warm. I also sometimes use them as a substitute for mince in things like bolognaise or chilli sin carne. It's a habit I got into when I was a vegi because meat substitutes like Quorn are expensive and I never much liked TVP but I still do it now sometimes. You can process them once theiy're cooked and use them to make substitute meat-balls by adding some chopped onion, bread soaked in milk and squeezed out, and herbs and spices (I like a bit of cinamon in them). They're good if you fry them for a bit to help them keep together and then cook them with a tin of chopped tomatoes. The starch from the lentils seems to help the sauce the tomatoes thicken up into a sauce really quickly.

cjalynch

AS previously posted, cook the lentils in vegetable stock with some onions, celery and such to flavour. Roast some red peppers, peel and slice. Dress in olive or walnut oil and balsamic vinegar and serve with the lentils and some goat's cheese.

Also as above, chopped mint is really nice mixed through!
If you are a fishatarian (don't know if that is a word) and not totally veggie, they are a nice accompaniment to roast cod.

kittiwoz

cjalynch wrote:

If you are a fishatarian (don't know if that is a word) and not totally veggie

Piscitarien is the word. That's what I used to be, not a proper veggie.