Cocotte-braised lentils with vegetables and sausages

There’s nothing quite like pulses simmered in a cast-iron casserole to mark the start of comforting stew season. These cocotte-braised lentils with vegetables and sausages have everything I need to make me happy. Comforting, nutritious and packed with flavour, this stew makes an ideal one-pot meal.

The benefits of a cast-iron casserole such as the Staub cocotte are countless. As well as being a robust piece of cookware designed to last a lifetime, its cast-iron body retains and distributes heat beautifully, while its condensation lid helps retain moisture, which is ideal when cooking stews. All this makes it an excellent companion for slow-cooked stews packed with flavour, just like this recipe.

I encourage you to try these cocotte-braised lentils with vegetables and sausages, a French-inspired dish that may remind you of cassoulet thanks to its combination of pulses and sausages. Bon appétit!

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1 small onion
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée
• 250 ml dry white wine
• 30 ml sherry vinegar
• 250 g Puy green lentils or Pardina lentils
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 2 large fresh pork sausages, such as butifarra or longaniza (around 250–300 g in total)
• 120 g kale leaves, cut into large pieces
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Method

1. Rinse the lentils and leave them to soak in cold water for half an hour while you prepare and cook the vegetables.
2. Wash and cut the onion, carrots and celery sticks into small dice, around 0.5–1 cm.
3. Heat your Staub cast-iron cocotte over a medium heat. Once hot, add the oil, diced vegetables, chilli flakes and a little salt and black pepper, then stir to combine. Turn the heat up slightly, cover the cocotte and cook for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. As soon as the vegetables begin to soften, add the chopped garlic and stir. Cook until you can smell the aroma of the garlic.
5. Push the vegetables slightly to one side to make a space in the centre of the cocotte and add the tomato purée. Cook for 1–2 minutes, stirring gently.
6. Pour in the white wine and stir well, gently scraping the bottom of the cocotte to release all the flavourful cooking juices. Cook until the alcohol has evaporated.
7. Add the drained lentils along with the stock and sherry vinegar. Stir gently to distribute the ingredients, then add the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
8. Cook over a medium-high heat until it begins to boil. Reduce the heat slightly, add the sausages whole and, once the stew comes back to the boil, cover the cocotte and cook over a medium-low heat for around 35–45 minutes. Stir with a spoon occasionally to distribute the ingredients.
9. When the lentils are tender and the stock has taken on a slightly thicker consistency, add the mustard and kale leaves. Stir, cover the cocotte again and cook for a further 5–8 minutes, until the kale has softened.
10. Taste the stew and adjust the salt and pepper if necessary.
11. Serve the lentils piping hot, dividing the sausages so everyone gets their share.

Suggestions

• If you prefer, you can replace the kale with fresh spinach. In this case, add it to the stew a little later and cook it for just 1–2 minutes.