Trying to replicate Merchant Gourmet lentil sachets.

TravellingAbuela

I absolutely love the sachets of Merchant Gourmet puy lentils in tomato and basil. But refuse to pay £2 for them! When I spotted 12 tins of puy lentils at a bargain price on Amazon I thought I'd order them and try and replicate the MG ones. I've had two attempts and, though they were acceptable, they didn't have the same yummy taste. So I now have 10 tins in my store cupboard and wonder if anybody has any ideas? My best success was using Heinz tomato frito but sadly that's not available here any more. (Well actually it is but only if you are prepared to pay silly money for it on Amazon!)

gayleygoo

I haven't heard of them, so this may not be of any help... but would more salt or sugar make them taste more similar? I'm guessing you've tried to replicate the other ingredients on the packet, but they probably contain a lot more salt or sugar than you'd add yourself. Adding a stock cube or celery salt might help?

Anne_Marie_2

Here's the list of ingreds, so that you could try to replicate the sauce yourself.
Puy Lentils (76%), Tomato and Basil Sauce (9.9%) (Tomato Puree (39%), Basil (20%), Sunflower Oil, Water, Sugar, Salt, Tapioca Starch, Potato Starch), Sundried Tomatoes (3.8%), Basil (1.5%), Olive Oil, Onions, White Wine, Natural Flavouring (contains Celery), Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Natural Spice Extracts
https://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Merchant-Gourmet-Puy-Lentils-with-Sun-Dried-Tomatoes--Basil/53151011

If you don't have sun dried tomatoes, what about roasting some tomatoes, and then making up a tomato sauce. Notice that the ingreds include celery, you could use a bit of celery salt there.

TravellingAbuela

Thanks both. Gayleygoo I never thought of adding extra sugar or maybe celery salt. Will give that a try. Anne_Marie yes I tried to follow the ingredient list on the packet as best I could but what do Natural Spice Extracts consist of I wonder. Maybe that's the "missing" flavour I'm not getting! I'll keep trying! Thanks again.

snoozer

I find adding a bit of red wine vinegar to lentils makes them really tasty - perhaps that would help.

Mr_Singleton

I'm almost certain that the lentils would have been cooked from the start in the additional ingredients and nothing your going to be able to do with your plain cooked ones is going to come anywhere close to the MG ones.