Sausages With Puy Lentils Food

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND LENTILS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add in sausages and cook just until browned (they will not be cooked through at this point.) Remove sausages from pot and set aside.
• To the pot, add chopped onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until the vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils and red wine, and cook for a minute. Pour in the canned tomatoes, broth, oregano, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add back in the sausages, pressing into the lentils. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until lentils are al dente, about 30 minutes.
• Remove cooked sausages from pot. Stir in parsley. Serve lentils in a bowl with a link of sausage on top.

ITALIAN SAUSAGES WITH LENTILS

Steps:

• For the lentils:
• Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil into a good-sized saucepan (and one that has a lid that fits) on the heat and when it's warm, add the chopped onion. Sprinkle with salt (which helps prevent its browning) and cook over low to medium heat until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the lentils, stir well and then cover generously with cold water. Bring to the boil, then cover and let simmer gently for 1/2 an hour or so until cooked and most, if not all, the liquid's absorbed. I don't add salt at this stage since the sauce provided by the sausages later (and which will be poured over the lentils) will be pretty salty itself. So, wait and taste. And remember, you can of course cook the lentils in advance.
• Anyway, when either the lentils are nearly ready or you're about to reheat them, put a heavy-based frying pan on the burner, cover with a film of oil and add the bruised garlic. Cook for a few minutes then add and brown the sausages. When the sausages are brown on both sides - which won't take more than 5 minutes or so - throw in the wine and water and let bubble up. Cover the pan, either with a lid or aluminum foil, and cook for about 15 minutes. Using a fork, mash the now-soft garlic into the sauce and taste for seasoning, adding a little more water if it's too strong.
• Remove the lentils to a shallowish bowl or dish (I evacuate the sausages from their cooking pan, plonk the lentils in, then proceed) then cover with the sausages and their garlicky, winey gravy. Sprinkle over some flat-leaf parsley.