Tomato lentil stew – Lenticchie in umido
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
$4-6 total*
3-4 people
Ingredients
- 300 g (about 11 oz, 2 and 1/2 cups) dry green lentils
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery stalk
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 230 g (1 cup) tomato sauce
- 1.2 l (5 cups) vegetable broth or salted water
- Fine salt, to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preparation
Peel, wash and finely dice the onion, carrot and celery stalk.
Sautee them in oil in a dutch oven or heavy pot at medium-low heat, for about 4-5 minutes. Congrats! You made a “soffritto” 🙂
Rinse lentils under running water.
Add lentils to the pot and cook on high heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Add tomato sauce, bay leaves, and 2/3 of the broth (or salted water).
Lower the heat at medium-low, cover with a lid and cook for 20-30 minutes, until lentils are soft. The exact timing depends on the dimension and type of lentils, so I suggest you taste them often after 18-20 minutes. Keep adding broth as it gets absorbed by the lentils. It could happen that you only need 4 cups instead of 5.
Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Tips & notes
- If you have time, you can soak the lentils in cold water overnight. This will reduce the cooking time to about 20 minutes.
- This dish is usually served with cotechino, an Italian sausage. I still haven’t found it here in the US. So if you do, please write it in the comments!
* Price range estimated from local markets and supermarkets (it can change according to season, location and product quality)
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