This is a hearty, freezer friendly, one pot meal that I love to serve on a cold day.

Sausage and Green Lentils Recipe

makes 4 or 5 servings; adapted from Silvana Franco (original recipe posted on BBC Good Food)

approximately 1 pound of fresh, uncooked sausages or 5 links of raw sausages, preferably organic  (Note:  I used 500 grams of fresh, mild Italian pork sausages, but you could use any type of sausage that you like.  I’ve also made this dish using 5 ounces of Hickory Farms cooked summer beef sausage, that I peeled and sliced crosswise into 1/3 inch thick pieces.  The flavour of your dish will depend on the flavour of the sausages that you use.  If your sausages are on the bland side, then you could add a few thin slices of pancetta, cubed, to the pan at the same time as the sausages.)

1 1/2 cups of dried green lentils, rinsed well  (Note:  I’ve made this with great success using the brand NuPak.  The lentils had a nice green colour and held together beautifully.  I used a different brand in the photo shown above.)

3 1/2 cups of hot chicken stock

1 large onion, finely diced

2 large carrots or 4 very thin carrots, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon vinegar, or more to taste (white vinegar, white wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar)

1 bay leaf

the leaves from a few sprigs of fresh thyme

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional)

small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

vegetable oil

coarse Kosher sea salt

ground black pepper

Heat a dutch oven or heavy bottomed saute pan over medium high heat.  Then add a few drizzles of vegetable oil.  Once the oil is hot, place the sausages and pancetta (if using) in the pan and cook until all sides are nicely browned, up to 2 minutes per side.  Remove the sausages from the pan.  Cook the onions in the hot pan until softened and translucent, stirring frequently, about 6 to 8 minutes.  Reduce the heat if the onions start to brown or burn.  Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Then stir in the lentils until well combined.  Add the carrots, hot broth, bay leaf, thyme, and rosemary (if using).  Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over high heat.  Then add the sausages and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, covered, approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Check halfway and if the dish is too watery for your taste, continue simmering with the lid off.  Cook until the lentils have softened, the sausage is cooked through, and almost all of the liquid has been absorbed.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprigs.  Stir in the vinegar to taste.  You can plate this dish with the sausages whole or you can cut the sausages crosswise into 1/3 inch thick pieces.  Just prior to serving, stir in the parsley or scatter it over the dish as garnish.  Serve hot.  Leftovers should be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  This dish is freezer friendly.