Instructions: Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5.
Cover a baking sheet with foil lay the peppers on it and roast them for 35-40 minutes turning them over once about halfway through.

Remove them from the oven and when they are cool enough to handle peel them trim them and deseed them.

Keep one pepper aside for the salsa and cut the rest into small dice.

Cover the lentils with cold water bring to the boil and drain.

Cover them with fresh water bring to the boil and simmer very briefly keeping an eye on them.

They will take about 79 minutes as they must still be a little hard.

Drain them and empty them into a large bowl.

Add some seasoning the diced peppers the dill and mix well.

To make the salsa place all the ingredients apart from the oil in a food processor add the reserved roast pepper and process with short bursts until everything has the consistency of crumbs.

With the machine still running add the olive oil dribbling it in slowly until it all looks well amalgamated.

A couple of hours before they are to be served coat the lentils with this salsa so that all the exotic flavours have a chance to permeate the lentils.

Garnish with some reserved dill and parsley sprigs.

Puy lentils are the aristocrats among lentils. They are small with a silvery green coat and light green insides. However small and insignificant they may look once cooked they hold their shape better than other lentils and their flavour is high up on the culinary scale. Of course not all Puy lentils in the market are the genuine article; that is they dont necessarily come from the town of Le Puy in the Auvergne. A lot are Puy style lentils grown elsewhere in France or in other European countries but they are still better than the large green lentils which are tasteless and disintegrate easily. This is the most delicious lentil recipe and it has evolved after numerous trials.

Serves 4 as main 6 as a starter

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