Dinner Dates: Lentils with Feta and Sundried Tomato Paste

Lentils with Feta and Sundried Tomato Paste

Cookbook: Best Ever Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook, by Jenny White and Joanna Farrow

Yay or Nay: Yay level 99! Somebody call the flavour police, because this dish is packing heat. The earthiness of the lentils, the tang of the feta, and the richness of the sundried tomatoes compliment each other beautifully. These are classic Mediterranean flavours. What's not to love?

Substitutions and Comments: This dish is happily gluten-free, so we didn't have to worry about that. It's also crazy easy. Usually we buy sundried tomatoes and puree them ourselves, but this time we tried sundried tomato paste and it worked out really well. Here's a picture!

Sundried tomato tapenade (and the corner of the cookbook)

Also, the recipe calls for a very specific type of lentil, Dupuy. Behold:

The rare Dupuy lentil, caught in the wild

We've only seen these at Highland Farms every now and again, so if you can't find them, just stick with any kind of green lentil. Lastly, the recipe instructs you to heat the lentils for one minute after adding the cheese, but we left it heat through for 5-6 minutes -- the extra time made the cheese nice and melty.

Recipe

1.5 cups Dupuy lentils
200g feta cheese
5tbsp sundried tomato puree (paste)
small handful of fresh chervil or flat leaf parsley, chopped, plus extra to garnish
salt and ground black pepper

1. Place the lentils in a heavy pan with 2.5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the lentils are just tender and most of the water has been absorbed.

2. Crumble half the feta cheese into the pan. Add the sundried tomato puree, chopped parsley and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat through for 1 minute.

3. Transfer the lentil mixture and juices to warmed plates or bowls. Crumble the remaining feta cheese on top and sprinkle with the fresh herbs to garnish. Serve hot.