How I fell in love with lentils, and 2 recipes that you could live without, but I don’t think you should

Lentils alla Veneto and Lentil Salad with Roast Cherry Tomatoes and Fennel, Black Olives, Hazelnuts, and Rosemary.

I am generally of the opinion that I can’t have too many lentils in my life, and as a  result  there’s no limit to how many lentil salads I need.  Luckily, lentils are very obliging: they start out delicious with nothing more than salt and a little oil, and they become more so with all kinds of additions.

But as well as salads, I need a lentil version of mash: something that goes with everything, because I eat them with everything.    

So in this week’s newsletter there’s an eat-with-everything recipe from the Veneto (more or less; a few Diva-diversions), and a brand new lentil salad that I like so much I have eaten it every day and am now very cross that I’ve finished it up.   I’m a bit stunned by  how good it is – I love roast fennel, and I love roast tomatoes, but I am surprised how well they sit together in the same dish,  especially with the addition of rosemary, a few black olives and hazelnuts.

Lentils did not feature in my childhood – the nearest I got to eating a pulse was Heinz Baked Beans (I am almost entirely formed out of Heinz Baked Beans) – so I first came across them  in my early twenties when I was studying with Tito Gobbi – one of the all-time great baritones – at an opera studio in the Veneto,  along with some very exciting other singers.

The thing that I remember most about that first encounter, was the kindness with which they were brought to my table.  I was having supper at the little pensione I was staying in after an intense day on the diva-battlefield, and the owner, having decided I looked a bit tired, brought me a dish of lentils.   They would do me good, she said; at least that’s what I thought she said. She said it at length – standing over me to make sure I ate them – but it was in the days before my Italian was up to understanding anything at length, so I had no idea what it was they contained that would restore me to health.*  Not that it mattered – mostly what was tiring about the diva-dogfights was fighting off the realisation that in the company of fledgling international superstars, I was not destined to be the next Maria Callas.    No amount of any food was going to help with that, whatever magic powers it possessed, although her kindness definitely helped. And they were completely delicious.

I don’t know exactly how she had cooked them, but she had probably done something like this – although this is almost certainly a lower calorie dense version,  and I have added my usual whole spices to the lentils as they boil.   

*Had I been able to understand her, she was probably telling me that they were packed full of B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, potassium, and iron. She might have told me that they were full of fibre, but not how good they were for the microbiome because nobody had heard of it back then. They probably didn’t need to because the world wasn’t quite so hellbent on destroying it with ultra-processed food.

Lentils alla Veneto

Serves 4

For the lentils

• 250g (dry weight) very small lentils

• A pinch each of peppercorns, coriander seeds, and cardamom seeds (de-husked)

• Salt

For the soffritto:

• 1 small red onion

• 2 carrots

• 2 sticks of celery

• 4 cloves of garlic

• A few sprigs of thyme

• 4 teaspoons / 20 ml olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• Chilli – optional, and quantity depends on how hot you want to make it

For the mustard dressing*

• 3 tablespoons / 45ml olive oil

• 3 tablespoons / 45ml balsamic vinegar

• 1 teaspoon of grainy mustard

• 1 teaspoon of honey

• Salt and pepper

*After my strong opinions on the subject of dressings last week, I should emphasis that the mustard dressing is optional – if you are short of time, it does perfectly well drizzled with a bit of oil and balsamic.

For the lentils

1. Cook the lentils with the whole spices and a really good pinch of salt for 30 minutes or so.

2. Drain and add more salt if necessary.

For the soffritto

1. Very finely dice all the vegetables and mix in a bowl with some salt and 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

2. If the thyme has woody stems, strip the leaves off – a fiddly job so use a skivvy if you have one to hand – and add to the diced vegetables.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a sauté or chef’s pan. You don’t want it too hot – just warm enough to let the soffritto know it’s about to get cooked. Tip it in and cook at a low temperature with the lid on till  it starts to soften.  Then take the lid off and continue cooking till it’s a tiny bit brown and fully cooked.

For the dressing:

1. Put the honey, mustard and a pinch of salt in a jar; stir them up together, then add the oil and vinegar. Put the lid on the jar and give it a good shaking.

Putting it all together:

Add everything together and pour over a couple of tablespoons of the dressing; mix really well and serve.   You can eat it hot or cold.

Diva Notes:

Dicing the Vegetables

They need to be very finely diced, which takes time and can be tricky to get them uniformly fine. However, if you chuck them in the food processor and pulse them until they are fine enough, it takes about 5 seconds.

Lentil Salad with Roast Cherry Tomatoes and Fennel, Black Olives, Hazelnuts, and Rosemary

Serves 4- 6

• 200g tiny lentils

• A pinch each of peppercorns, coriander and cardamom seeds (husks removed)

• A good pinch of salt

• 3 handfuls of cherry tomatoes – about 300g

• 2 bulbs of fennel

• 50g ricotta (optional)

• 20 black olives

• 30g of hazelnuts (a handful)

• A sprig of rosemary

• 6 teaspoons olive oil

• Salt and pepper

For the lentils:

1. Cook the lentils with the whole spices and the good pinch of salt for 20 – 30 minutes.

2. Drain really well and allow to cool.

3. Finely chop some of the rosemary – you want about a tablespoon. Add to the lentils, along with 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and more salt if necessary. Mix really well.

For the roast tomatoes:

1. Heat the oven to 200º / fan 180º gas mark 6

2. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them, cut-side up on a baking tray.

3. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle about 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and scatter with rosemary.

4. Put in the oven and roast for about an hour.   After about 40 minutes, check that they are not sticking and burning.

5. They are done when they have intensified and caramelised. Try not to burn them, but it’s not a tragedy if you do.

For the roast fennel:

1. Cut each fennel into 6 wedges

2. Put in a bowl; season with salt and pepper, and add 2 teaspoons of olive oil;  mix well with your hands so the small amount of oil coats the fennel completely.

3. Put on a baking tray, cut-side down.

4. Roast in the oven (200º / fan 180º / gas mark 6) for about an hour, turning halfway through.

5. They are done when they are golden, a bit caramelised, and squidgy.

And the rest:

1. Roughly chop the hazelnuts.

2. Roughly chop the olives

3. Put everything except the ricotta in a bowl and mix well. Add seasoning if needed.

4. Transfer it to a shallow bowl, and scatter some torn ricotta over the top.