This dish came about as the result of a rummage and came together as a deeply satisfying dish. It just so happens to be dairy and gluten free and vegan friendly too!

It’s a one-pot-wonder dish, and I find that dishes like this are best cooked in a saute pan, but a shallow casserole dish will do too. The great thing about lentils is that you don’t need to constantly stir them, so once everything is in you can walk away and do something else while they cook out.

I have used puy lentils here, but this would work well with green lentils too. Depending on how long the lentils have been hanging around in the press, you may need to add a little more water just to get them over the line. These lentils should have a little biting yield to them, definitely not mushy and not hard enough to take out your teeth either! I think cooking lentils requires a little instinct to know when they are just right!

Ingredients

• 2 tsp sunflower oil / olive oil
• 1 small white onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and roughly chopped
• 250 ml / 1 cup of puy lentils
• 1 large / 2 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into chunks roughly the same size
• 1 tbsp ras al hanout
• 750 ml vegetable stock
• Broad beans or other bean to hand (optional)
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses + enough for a final drizzle
• Fresh mint and coriander leaf, handful of each, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper
• EVOO
• Garnishes (use whatever you have): pomegranate seeds, sliced scallion, spiced almond slices, microgreens

Method

Heat a saute pan or shallow casserole over a medium low heat. Add oil, onion and garlic. Stir to coat in oil an gently sweat for 3-5 minutes with the lid on.

Remove lid, add lentils, stir. Add carrots, sprinkle over ras al hanout and stir to coat everything well.

Add minimum 500ml of stock – enough to fully cover the lentils, stir, cover, bring stock to the boil, then turn the heat to low and leave to cook for 15 minutes.

Lift off the lid, add the remaining stock, pomegranate molasses, and any other beans or peas you might want to add in. Stir and replace lid, allow to cook for a further 5 – 10 minutes. Be careful to ensure the stock doesn’t cook off completely and start to burn.

Check to see how close the puy lentils and carrots are to being cooked through. If they need a little more time, add a little more water – maybe another 100ml. Replace lid and cook for a further five minutes.

When carrots and lentils are cooked through, remove the lid, stir through the fresh herbs, check for seasoning and add a good grind of black pepper and a pinch of salt (how much will depend on whether your stock was already salted).

Take off the heat, drizzle over a little more pomegranate molasses and EVOO. Give everything a final stir, then plate up.

Garnish your dish with whatever you have available. I liked the fresh juicy burst of acidity from the pomegranate seeds, the crunch of spiced nuts and the peppery burst from microgreens – but feel free to play around with your final garnishes!

Enjoy…