My children asked me to make an “ordinary dinner for a change”. I don’t consider my home cooking to be fancy or fussy and we do eat “ordinary” meals like tuna pasta, spaghetti Bolognese, roast chicken, fresh salads, muffins, casseroles, soups and the like. So when I asked what they meant by this phrase, they responded with a request for Sausages and Mash. Easy! So that’s what I made, with a Warm French Bean Salad and…here’s the twist – Puy Lentils. 

I admit the addition of the French style lentils add an extra something to sausages and mash, but my reasoning for including them is simple; I like them. Especially during winter. I adore lentils. I would be happy eating just a bowl of beautifully flavoured lentils with Greek yoghurt. 

Besides being versatile, affordable and widely available in Australian supermarkets and grocery stores, lentils contain no fat, but are an excellent source of fibre. As part of the legume family, lentils are an essential staple for vegetarians because they provide a fair bit of iron, protein and potassium.

However there is no need to turn down a juicy home cooked meat-based meal in order to enjoy lentils. I regularly include them in my slow cooked lamb and chicken dishes, just like the Aromatic Lamb Casserole that I blogged about on Thursday. Worried about children not eating a dish containing lentils? Try this – include them in favourite family meals, and only tell the kids once they have polished off their potion. A child’s reluctance to try a new and delicious type of food really needs to be managed early on, because a family kitchen is not a restaurant where everyone orders an individual meal based on their personal preferences. Of course we all have our minor dislikes. I’m not a fan of sautéed chicken livers or blood sausage but I will eat it if it happens to be a part of the meal served during a lunch or dinner at a friend’s or relative’s house. There are so many marvellous ingredients and meals that it is important to keep an open mind and palate and try them, rather than refuse them. 

The inspiration for this evening’s dinner came from a Nigella Lawson recipe in her book How to be a Domestic Goddess. I’ve changed the the method and ingredients ever so slightly. I’ve also found that leftovers warmed in the oven the next day have an even sweeter and deeper taste, with the lentils holding their shape and texture perfectly.

Ingredients to serve 8 people (reduce by half if cooking for fewer people)

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large Spanish onion finely diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 standard measuring cups of puy lentils (this small, dark blue-green speckled French style lentil is also grown in Australia and usually located in the supermarket aisle alongside other dried pulses such as borlotti beans and split peas). 
water 
1.3 kg chipolata sausages (I used chicken and rock and beef and herb but the choice is yours)
125 ml red wine

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan forced. 

In a deep saucepan, heat the olive oil over a low-medium heat and add the onion, garlic and sea salt. Sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. 

Wash the lentils in a sieve or fine colander under running water to wash out any grit that may be there. Add them to the saucepan and stir to coat with the onion-garlic-olive oil mixture. Pour in enough cold water to cover the lentils by 2 cm. Put on the lid, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 – 25 minutes. When cooked, the lentils will still retain their shape but you will be able to easily bite them in half. Keep an eye on the lentils while they are cooking and top up with boiling water from the kettle if needed. 

While the lentils are simmering, start on the sausages. In batches, brown the sausages evenly in a frypan but do NOT cook them through. This should only take about 90 seconds per batch. Set aside on a clean plate. 

Once the lentils are cooked, scoop them into the base of a baking pan. I used my rectangular cast iron Le Creuset. * Important tip – if you still have an abundance of liquid once the lentils are cooked, drain them first using a sieve (before adding to the baking pan) but make sure you keep the garlic and onion. 

Neatly arrange the sausages on top of the lentils. 

In the frypan used to brown the sausages, pour in the red wine and a couple of tablespoons of water and bring to the boil for a minute to cook off the alcohol. Pour this over the sausages and lentils in the baking pan. Put the lot into the preheated oven for 20 minutes. The baking time varies depending on the size of your chipolata sausages. I used lovely, plump sausages from AC Butchery in Leichhardt. 

When ready, serve with fluffy mashed potatoes and a salad. This Warm French Bean Salad is a popular choice in our household and simply involves blanching 700 grams of French green beans in boiling water for 4 minutes and them tossing them in a bowl with a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, a good grind of salt and pepper and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.