Braised lentils with sausage (saucisse de Morteau aux lentilles)

A sausage and lentil dish, perfect for bringing a bit of France into your home on a cold night. Best served with a shallot vinaigrette.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g green or blonde lentils
• 3 cloves
• ½ onion
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 bouquet garni
• 750 ml vegetable stock
• 4 Morteau sausages (see Note)
• Salt
• Pepper
• French mustard, to serve, optional

Shallot vinaigrette

• 1 eschallot (French shallot), peeled and quartered
• 100 ml red wine vinegar
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. Rinse lentils under running cold water. Drain and set aside.
2. Press the cloves into the onion. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, celery and garlic then cook without colouring. Add the carrot then cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the lentils, the bouquet garni and 600 ml of vegetable stock, cover and simmer for 10 minutes then add the sausages. Simmer until the lentils are cooked through, about 15 more minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the shallot vinaigrette. Place the eschallots and red wine vinegar in a blender. Blend until eschallots are broken down then add the oil and emulsify. Set aside.
5. If the liquid is too low from cooking the lentils, top up with more vegetable stock if desired, then bring to the boil.
6. Remove the bouquet garni, onion and the sausages. Slice the sausages into four pieces each.
7. Mix the shallot vinaigrette into the lentils. Divide the lentils into four bowls, place the sausages on top of the lentils then serve with mustard (optional).

Note

• Morteau sausages (saucisse de Morteau) are smoked (but not cooked) pork sausages from the Franche-Comte region.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.