Puy Lentils with Leeks

, from Issue #31. September, 2015
Photography by Aaron McLean.
Puy Lentils with Leeks

Serves: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Puy lentils
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 leek, sliced 1 cm thick
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped thyme or rosemary
finely grated zest 1 lemon
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

 

METHOD

Serve with Braised Chicken with Shallots, Peas and Apples.

Cook the lentils in boiling water until tender. Drain well.

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and cook the carrot, leek, garlic and thyme with a good pinch of salt until the vegetables are very tender. Stir in the lemon zest, flat-leaf parsley and the lentils. Season well.

Puy lentils: these small slate-green lentils have a delicate blue marbling. They are considered by many to be the best lentil because of their unique peppery flavour and the fact they hold their shape during cooking. They’re the only lentil to be identified by area of cultivation – grown in the Le Puy region of France.