It is a simple recipe . The truth is that nothing is richer than lentils for the beginning of the cold and in addition to being delicious they are super nutritious. Undoubtedly one of my favorite autumn dishes, in this case they have that touch of fat that pork gives it (chorizo, bone .), you can even opt for the lentil version with pork chop. And if you want them a little healthier, (suitable for diet), you have the vegetable version, delicious and healthy widowed lentils.




Not everyone likes them, as the saying goes "He who wants to eat them and he who does not leave them" but I think it is important to educate all children from an early age to like this stew by introducing it into the daily diets . Although they take time, another point in favor is that you can make a casserole of them and freeze them. As long as you don't add potato to them. I present this recipe that almost makes itself, I hope you like it.


Ingredients


1. 500 gm extra brown lentils

2. 4 large carrots

3. 2 cloves of garlic

4. 2 large onions

5. 1 bay leaf

6. 1 tablespoon of paprika de la Vera (sweet)

7. Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste of each house)

8. 4 tablespoons of extra  olive oil

9. 1 green  pepper

10. 2 large tomatoes

11. 1 cane bone

12. 2 sausages

13. 1 blood sausage

14. 1/4 ham bone

15. Water

Before cooking the lentils

One of the important steps is the choice of lentils. I use the most common, the extra brown lentils, found in any market or supermarket. The best thing about this kind of lentils is that they do not need soaking before cooking, although I usually do it to save cooking time.


We put the lentils in a bowl of cold water and let them soak overnight, normally 12 hours. It is not necessary to add salt during soaking. If for any reason you don't have time, you can do it directly. As long as they are pardinas and do not forget to wash them to remove impurities. Just remember to cook them for 1/2 hour more.


The day after soaking them, we remove the lentils that are floating in the water, they are usually not suitable for preparing the stew. We drain them and set aside until ready to prepare them.


Preparation of the lentils

Chop the onion, garlic and pepper into very small pieces so that they melt during cooking. At the end of cooking we will hardly notice the texture of any of the ingredients, but we will notice their flavor. As many people don't like to find garlic on the plate, you can add it whole and remove it halfway through cooking.


Peel the carrots and tomatoes, if you do not want to peel the tomato, nothing happens, although you will find some rest of the skin. Many people tend to chop the carrot so that it is not hard when cooked. It depends on the taste of each one but I can assure you that in an hour and a half it is perfect, in my case I like to cut it into thin slices if the carrots are thin and into quarters if they are bigger. Cut the tomatoes into two pieces.


In a saucepan, add a drizzle of oil, the onions and the garlic cloves. Sauté everything for 10 minutes so that the flavors mix well.


Add the pepper, tomato, carrots and bay leaf. We also fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the bones (ham and cane) and a generous spoonful of paprika from La Vera. A dessert-type spoonful is enough, too much can become bitter.


If you like a spicy touch, you can mix sweet and spicy paprika at the same level, they are very tasty. Quickly stir with a wooden spoon and add the drained and reserved lentils. With in 3 min we stir again so that everything  will comes together as well. 


Final preparation. Traditional cooking or with an express pot.


We cover with cold water  until the casserole is almost full. Remember that we have to add more ingredients. I like them with broth, if you want them thicker add a little less water. Then you can always rectify with hot water 


Let them come to a boil and froth for a few minutes. We remove the foam that normally contains impurities, part of the remains of the meat. When it has been cooking for 1/2 hour, add salt and pepper to taste. It is important to taste the broth since we have added ham and they can be salty.


We add 2 sausages and a blood sausage (I don't usually add bacon or bacon, because we don't eat it, but it does taste good). We let them cook slowly at medium temperature for the next half hour, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon.


Then we remove the sausages, the blood sausage and the bones so that they are less heavy. The last half hour we cook the lentils over low flames, testing from time to time in case they not need more cooking. Another option is to make them in the express pot. Although I like them more slowly cooked from time to time I have made them like this, it depends on the time you have.


We will cook about 12 minutes if it is an express pot, or 25 minutes if it is normal. We can open it 5 minutes before time (resting before opening it) to see how