Sausage & Puy Lentil Stew

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 pork sausages, about 700 grams (1 pound 9 ounces)
1 medium leek
1 brown onion
2 medium carrots
2 celery sticks
8 rashers streaky bacon
20 grams (¾ ounce) salted butter
4 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup (210 grams, 7½ ounces) French Puy lentils
5 00 millilitres (17 fluid ounces) chicken stock
1 x 400-gram (14-ounce) can finely chopped tomatoes
200 millilitres (7 fluid ounces) red wine
2 teaspoons treacle
2 dried bay leaves
½ teaspoon cracked pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) regular bake or 155°C (310°F) fan bake.

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish over a medium heat. Fry the sausages until browned on all sides. They don’t need to be cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Trim, wash and finely dice the leek. Finely dice the brown onion and cut the carrots and celery into 1-centimetre (½-inch) chunks.

Roughly chop the bacon and add to the pan, stirring frequently. When the bacon is golden and crispy, reduce the heat to low and add the butter, leek, onion, carrot, celery and thyme. Fry for 15 minutes or until tender.

Remove the rosemary leaves from the stem and add to the pan along with the tomato paste and garlic. Fry for 3 minutes, stirring regularly.

Rinse the lentils in a sieve under cold running water then add to the pan along with the remaining ingredients except the parsley. Season with a generous grind of cracked pepper. Bring to a simmer then slice the sausages in half on an angle and place on top.

Cover and place in the preheated oven and cook for 1¾–2 hours or until the lentils are tender. Remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Stir through the chopped parsley and season to taste.