Instructions: We use the dark green Puy lentils. They are both nourishing and easy to cook. At our restaurants we usually serve them as a puree to accompany the poached guinea fowl though at home my wife serves them as a salad with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing some finely chopped and caramelized onions some thin slices of crispy bacon and fresh parsley.

Puy lentils dont need to be soaked before cooking just washed thoroughly. Then put them in a pan and cover them with chicken stock a mirepoix of vegetables with a bit of blanched bacon and a few herbs. For the puree cook them until they are completely falling to pieces and mushy.

Categories: mediterranean
Natives of the Mediterranean lentils come in different sizes and colours. They can be graygreen brown or slatecolour and they can be large or small. I find the small green or graygreen varieties have the best flavours. French Puy lentils which are one of these types are wonderful. There are also the small Egyptian lentils which have an orange colour once skinned. Lentils have a nutty taste and they are a good source of protein calcium iron selenium and vitamin A.

moroccan
For centuries chick peas and lentils provided calories and protein for the moroccan diet when meat was too difficult or too expensive to procure. Delicious and nutritious they are available from good delicatessens and supermarkets.

indian
In various forms and colours are used extensively in the indian cuisine. There are three popular ways of preparing lentils. Probably the most popular custom is to boil the lentils until tender drain and mash them and enrich them with spices garlic and butter. Lentils are also cooked with other ingredients like vegetables and rice so that each grain is fragrant and separate they are also added to soups nreads and stuffings for substance and protein.

Castellucio lentils are grown only in Norcia an arid plain speicifically designated by the italian goyernment as a lentil growing area. The totally organic production by a farmers cooperative is obliged to conform to very high standards.

To cook
Put them in a small saucepan cover with cold water bring to the boil then skim. Add 1 clove of garlic and a celery stalk turn the heat down and simmer gently for 35 minutes or until the lentils are cooked. Drain and season. Remove and discard the garlic and celery.

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