There’s a surfeit of lentils in the cupboard. Not only beautiful lentilles du puy, those diminutive beads the colour of country roof slates, but the less fashionable yet equally delicious brown lentils. This is the common variety – the sparrow of the pulse world – and it has a warm, spicy note and keeps its shape, rather than collapsing to a purée when cooked, like its khaki and orange cousins.
I lightened my load by turning one batch into a creamy, mildly spiced dish (ginger, garam masala, crème fraîche) with a flash of deep red beetroot swirling through. The others found their way into an unashamedly retro dish of baked onions the size of tennis balls, with a cheese sauce so hot it almost took the skin off our lips.
Baked onions, lentils and cheese sauce
The bay leaves don’t add a fat lot of flavour to the onions, but they do, I find, take the edge off the smell of the boiling onions. That said, they make a subtle difference to the cheese sauce – as does a little patience. The best cheese sauces are those that you have allowed to cook slowly, leaving them to bubble and blip sleepily, with just the occasional stir to stop them from sticking. This is not a dish to be hurried.
Serves 4
onions 4, large and sweet
bay leaves 2
For the filling:
onions 2, medium
olive oil 2 tbsp
garlic 4 cloves
brown lentils 200g
chopped tomatoes 1 x 400g can
For the sauce:
plain flour 2 tbsp
olive oil 2 tbsp
milk 500ml
bay leaves 2
mature cheddar cheese 150g
grated parmesan 4 tbsp
Peel the large onions, then bring them to the boil in 1.5 litres of water. Add the bay leaves then lower the heat to a simmer. Leave to cook, partially covered with a lid, for a good hour – maybe a little longer depending on your onions, until they are tender to the point of a skewer. Drain the onions and discard the water.
Meanwhile, make the stuffing. Peel the medium onions then roughly chop them. Warm the oil in a deep pan and stir in the chopped onions. Peel and crush the garlic then add to the pan and continue cooking until the onions are pale gold and translucent. It is worth taking your time over this. The longer the onions cook, with the occasional stir, the sweeter they will be.
Tip the lentils into the onions and garlic, add the canned tomatoes and their juice, and then a can (400ml) of water. Bring to the boil, season with salt and black pepper and leave to simmer for 35 minutes until the mixture has started to thicken. Scoop the insides from the boiled onions with a teaspoon, chop them and stir into the lentil filling.
Make the cheese sauce by cooking the flour and olive oil together for a couple of minutes in a heavy-based saucepan, stirring it to a smooth paste. Pour in the milk, add the bay leaves and bring to the boil, stirring thoroughly until the sauce starts to thicken. Season, then lower the heat so the sauce barely blips. Leave, with the occasional stir, over a very low heat for a good 20 minutes. Stir in the grated cheddar and set aside. Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 6.
Place the boiled onions in a large baking dish. Fill their hollows with some of the lentil stuffing, spoon any remaining filling into the base of the dish. Spoon the cheese sauce over and around the onions. Scatter the grated parmesan over the top then bake for 30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Creamed lentils and beetroot
Beetroot takes an age to roast. To speed up the process, halve the unpeeled beetroot, place on a large piece of tin foil, then trickle over a little oil and 1 tbsp of water. Season, then scrunch the edges of the foil together to form a parcel. Roast at 200C/gas mark 6 until you can pierce them easily with a skewer then peel the skins. Alternatively, steam the beetroot over boiling water until tender.
Serves 4
beetroot 5
olive oil 4 tbsp
brown lentils 300g
onion 1, medium
groundnut oil 2 tbsp
garam masala 2 tsp
ginger a large thumb
vegetable stock 250ml
crème fraîche 200g
sprouted seeds to finish
Wash and trim the beetroot and place in a metal baking dish. Pour in the olive oil, season and cover in foil. Bake at 200C/gas mark 6 for an hour or until tender to the point of a knife. Peel the beetroot and discard the skin. Alternatively, boil it in lightly salted water until tender, drain and slip off the skins with your thumbs.
Bring a deep pan of water to the boil and add the lentils, let them come back to the boil, remove froth from the surface then lower the heat and leave to cook for 30 minutes or until just tender. Salt the water only near the end of cooking.
Peel and slice the onion; cook in the groundnut oil until soft and golden. Grate the ginger and stir in, then add the cooked, drained lentils. Pour in the stock simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the crème fraîche and check the seasoning. Blitz the beetroot to a rough purée.
Divide the lentils between 4 warm bowls. Spoon the beetroot purée into the centre then stir lightly through the lentils and finish with a few sprouted seeds or fresh herbs.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
