Lent cooking: French braised lentil ragout

After every pilgrimage we lead to France, I discover a renewed interest in flavorful, slow cooking. My favorite French dishes are the simple, earthy ones—there's a comfort and sense of nourishment that escargot and tartare just don't offer. This lentil dish is the only way I've ever enjoyed lentils (coming from a red beans girl) and it's a great meatless, protein-packed meal for Lent.

French braised lentils

Serves about 8

• Olive oil to cover the bottom of your pot in a thin layer (I use a Dutch oven)

• 2 cloves of minced garlic (I use the equivalent of pre-minced garlic from a jar)

• 1 large onion, finely diced

• 2 large carrots, peeled and finely diced (I usually use the equivalent in baby carrots)

• 3 TBS tomato paste

• 3-4 bay leaves (if they're fresh, give them a quick scrunch to release the flavor)

• 1 TBS Herbes de Provence

• 1 pound dry French lentils (about 2.5 cups)

• 7 cups vegetable stock

• 1 c orange juice

• 1.5 tsp salt 

• 1 tsp black pepper

• Optional: we also shake on Tony's or Tabasco to taste... but we do that to everything here

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

• Sauté garlic, carrot, and onion until soft.

• Stir in the tomato paste, bay leaf, and Herbes de Provence for a few minutes until well blended.

• Add lentils, orange juice, stock, salt, and pepper, stir until simmering, then lower heat and simmer without a lid until the lentils are soft (15-20 minutes; check and taste throughout cooking).

• Add more salt, pepper, Tony's, or Tabasco if you need to.

• P.S. This dish is also excellent with a runny egg on top, as a scoop over greens, topped with soft white cheese, or after Lent with spicy sausage.

• P.P.S. Here's another slightly different recipe that looks delicious (using chicken stock); the image above is from this source.

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