Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 5 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 250gm Greek yoghurt
• 50gm baby spinach
• 3 tbsp chopped coriander
• 3 tbsp chopped mint
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 400gm best-quality puff pastry
• 1 free-range organic egg, beaten

Preparation

• Put the lentils, bay leaves and a litre of water in a pan, bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until done.
• Drain, tip into a bowl and set aside.
• In a frying pan, dry-roast the cumin and coriander seeds for two minutes, until the aromas are released, then grind with a pestle and mortar.
• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan and fry the onion gently for six to eight minutes, until golden and very soft.
• Add the ground spices and garlic, and cook for two minutes, then mix into the lentils and set aside.
• Once cool, stir in the yoghurt, spinach, herbs, lemon juice and remaining oil.
• Season to taste.
• Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick and cut out four circles about 8cm in diameter.
• Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 200°C / gas mark 6.
• Brush the pastry with beaten egg and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden on top and underneath.
• Allow to cool slightly.
• To serve, place a pastry disc in the middle of each of four plates.
• Pile up the lentils high on top, so you can just see the edges of the pastry cases, and finish with a dribble of olive oil.

Nutritional Information

ABOUT FRENCH GREEN LENTILS

French Green Lentils (also known as lentilles du Puy) are prized above other lentils for their strong peppery flavour and their firmness, even after cooking. Lentils are a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family and are a very good source of cholesterol lowering fibre.

Not only do lentils help lower cholesterol, they are of special benefit in managing blood-sugar disorders since their high fibre content prevents blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after a meal. But this is far from all lentils have to offer.

Lentils also provide good to excellent amounts of six important minerals including two B-vitamins and protein, all with virtually no fat. The calorie cost of all this nutrition is just 230 calories for a whole cup of cooked lentils.

Lentils are one of the best vegetable sources of iron. This makes them an important part of a vegetarian diet, and useful for preventing iron deficiency. Iron is particularly important for adolescents and pregnant women, whose requirements for it are increased.

Cooking French Green Lentils

There is no special technique to cooking les lentilles du Puy. They cook in the same fashion as other lentils and can substitute for these in your favourite recipes. The basic cooking technique is:

• Rinse the lentils with cold water and remove any gravel that may have sneaked its way in.
• Place them in a sturdy pot and cover with 6 times as much water.
• Bring the pot to a boil and then simmer until done, about 15 to 20 minutes.