Thursday, June 04, 2009

Lentils with ewe's milk cheese


Busy with bits and pieces of other things Wednesday night I wanted something reasonably simple for dinner. I had a pot of ewe's milk cheese from Abel & Cole that needed using and was wondering about cheese omelette. I sampled a little and it was a delicate curd like cheese with a lemony tang. Very summery but I wasn't convinced it would melt into the eggs. I had omelettes Monday night but with tarragon and a carrot and fennel salad and that melded perfectly but I still had the cheese.

Jaey made a really nice lentil salad with the bbq Tuesday using puy lentils and that set me thinking. Decided if I used puy lentils rather than my favourite green ones, which are creamier when cooked, I could make a fab dinner with chorizo (because everything is better with chorizo!) and lentils served hot with little gobbits of cheese on top to add a tangy creaminess. Worked a treat.

Lentils with ewe's milk cheese

1 onion, roughy chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbspns olive oil
2 cooking chorizo, sliced into rounds (next time I'd make them quite thick)
1 stalk celery, washed and sliced thinly
200g puy lentils, washed
2 tbspns chopped flat leaf parsley
100g fresh sheeps milk curd cheese or ricotta

Fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent and fragrant, about 10 minutes, then add the chorizo and celery and cook for a few minutes more till the sausage starts to crispy a little around the edge.

Tip the lentils into the pan and stir to coat in the oily mixture then add cold water to cover. Bring the pan to a simmer then lower the heat and cover with a lid. After 10 minutes, check there is still enough liquid - add hot water if you need to - and season with salt and pepper.

Cook for another 10 minutes or so till the lentils are cooked then stir through the parsley. Serve in deep bowls topped with splodges of cheese.




4 comments:

chaiselongue said...

This sounds delicious. I think I'll try it with the sheeps' cheese from the Larzac which we can buy here. Thanks for the recipe.

bron said...

Pleasure chaiselongue. It is a lovely supper, the cheese adds a nice creamy tang. Hope you enjoy it.

Jeanne said...

Oh yes - everything is better with lentils, especially puy lentils! Love the look of this. I often make green lentils with garlicky fried mushrooms and crumbled feta which is a treat :)

bron said...

Jeanne it's true - lentils are endlessly wonderful. Like the sound of them with garlic mushrooms - definitely one to try.