Pork Sausages with Puy Lentil and Bacon Ragout
Photography Manja Wachsmuth.
Puy lentils hold their shape when cooked and go well with all cuts of pork as well as sausages. I like to serve bowls of Dijon mustard and salsa verde to accompany the lentils and lots of crusty bread for mopping up the juices.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
6-8 thick pork sausages (I used Cumberland)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Lentils
2 tablespoons olive oil
100 grams bacon, cut into 2 cm pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup red wine, optional
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup Puy lentils, rinsed
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
To serve
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Dijon mustard and salsa verde
METHOD
Lentils: Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the bacon, onion, carrots, fennel, bay leaves and garlic. Season then cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
Add the wine if using and let it bubble up until most of it has evaporated.
Add the stock and lentils and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until the lentils are just cooked and still a little soupy.
Sausages: Heat the oil in a sauté pan and cook the sausages until golden and cooked through.
To serve: Add the parsley to the lentils and divide between shallow dishes. Cut the sausages in half and place on top. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds and serve with the mustard and salsa verde.
Pantry note:
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.
Keep up to date with
dish weekly recipes,
food news, and events.
Related Content
latest issue:
126
We start by sharing what’s on the dish team’s radar, what we’re watching, listening to and reading. Harry Butterfield puts a twist on his Nonna’s agnolotti, Malissa Fedele reminds us of the importance of fibre, and Phoebe Holden fulfils a long-held dream, sitting down with Yotam Ottolenghi. Autumn is an abundant time, we make the most with pumpkin, kūmara, cabbage, cauliflower, feijoas, apples and pears. We’re dishing up dinners for two, including a Chicken Dumpling Lasagne, alongside easy weeknight meals. We honour our mums, revisit timeless classics, and add a little baking challenge. This issue, we encourage you to slow down, to enjoy writing your shopping list, and spending time in the kitchen. Because even when life feels relentless, there’s always space to share something delicious.