Sausage and Lentil Stew / not sure it is a stew

By strict definition this dish seems to be a stew “a meal of meat and vegetables cooked slowly in liquid in a closed dish or pan” but the cooking time is relatively short for a stew. While the images are a little below par the recipe is not. On a cold winters day, like the ones we have been having, this is the perfect warming and filling dish to make you appreciate the cold. With a piece of toast smothered in plenty of butter and an extra drop of crème fraîche on the lentils, you will want to forget all about summer - but only if it’s full fat crème fraiche. If John S is reading this I finally got round to the beetroot challenge. If you have any ingredient suggestions I am more than happy to try and rise to the challenge, just write it in the comments but try keep it seasonal.

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  What you need:
  
  

  • Some good quality thick sausages, one per person (spicy sausages would work nicely)
  • 1 red onion 
  • 1 carrot 
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • A hand full of dry lentils per person 
  • A clove of garlic
  • 2 / 3 beetroots
  • 3 sage leaves
  • Thyme stalks 
  • 6 shallots 
  • Butter
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
  • 500 ml chicken stock
  • A tub of crème fraîche

  
  How to make it:
  
  

  1. Peel and quarter the beetroots – do this on a plastic chopping board, otherwise you may find your beautiful wooden chopping board stained with pinkie purple marks. Throw the beetroot into a roasting tin along with some seasoning, a little olive oil and thyme stalks. Toss the ingredients together and place in a 180 oC oven. This should cause the veg to roast, drying it out and concentrating the flavour whilst adding new “caramelisation” flavour notes. Cook for 40 minutes.
  2. Fry the sausages in a little veg oil; they don’t have to be perfectly golden over their surface due to the sausages getting fully cooked later but more browning now means more flavour later.
  3. Once brown take the sausages out of the pan and over a low heat fry diced onion, carrot and celery until soft for 20 minutes. Then add in chopped garlic and fry for another 5 minutes.
  4. While the vegetables cook, peel and half the shallots. Melt some butter in a small frying pan over a low heat and place the shallots cut side down into the bubbling butter. Cook the shallots for 20 minutes like this -over this time they should soften and go a deep brown underneath. 
  5. Back to the stew - to the vegetables add in thyme leaves and chopped sage leaves. Next add in your lentils along with the sausages and mix everything together. Now you want to pour in enough chicken stock to cover the lentils. Season, cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes. You will know it’s cooked when the lentils are soft.    
  6. Shallots – now that they are golden underneath pour over the balsamic vinegar, season, and then pour over some water and cover with a lid, steaming / boiling the shallots to completion. However check the water level from time to time to check that the pan hasn’t gone dry.
  7. While all this is going on the beetroot should be done. The beetroot chunks are going to be little flavour bombs that just need adding to the stew 5 minutes before the lentils are cooked.
  8. So now the lentils are about cooked with the beetroot added and the shallots are done. Take the lid off of the lentils and add in a couple of tablespoons of the crème fraiche, mix well and plate up, placing the shallots on top.