pork

sausages and green lentils with tomato salsa (salsicce con lenticchie verdi e salsa di pomodoro)

servings
4

method

The equivalent of sausage and mash in Italy is definitely a good roasted sausage with a pile of lenticchie di Castelluccio and a spicy salsa rossa tomato sauce – a genius combo.

First things first, get your salsa on the go. Put a little olive oil into a pan, add the onion and sliced garlic, throw in the cinnamon stick and a good crumbling of chilli, and fry on a gentle heat for 10 minutes until the onions are soft and sweet. Now turn the heat up and add your red wine vinegar – it will steam and might even make you cough but this is a normal reaction! Then turn the heat down to low and add your tinned tomatoes, chopped up. Simmer slowly for half an hour while you get on with your lentils.

Put a pan of water on for your broccoli and preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put the lentils into a pot, cover them with water, and add the 2 whole cloves of garlic, the bay leaf and some tied-up stalks from the parsley. Simmer for around 20 minutes, making sure that you’ve got enough liquid covering the lentils. Toss your sausages in a little olive oil and put them in a roasting tray in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden and crisp. Drop your broccoli into boiling water for a few minutes when the sausages come out of the oven. When done, drain in a colander and toss in a bowl with a squeeze of lemon juice and some extra virgin olive oil.

Once the lentils are cooked, remove the parsley stalks and bay leaf and pour away most of the water from the pan. Mash the garlic cloves up with a spoon, mix in with the lentils and dress them using 4 tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil and 1 or 2 tablespoons of good vinegar. Throw in all your finely chopped parsley leaves, mix and season.

Remove the sausages from the roasting tray and pour away any fat. Tip the lentils into your serving bowls. Remove the cinnamon stick from the salsa rossa and discard it, then season well to taste and spoon it over your lentils. Place 2 sausages, either sliced or whole, on top. Sprinkle with the thyme and serve with a big bowl of steaming broccoli.

• from Jamie's Italy

ingredients

• 8 medium-sized good-quality Italian sausages, or good fat Cumberlands
• olive oil
• 500g purple-sprouting broccoli or cima di rapa
• juice of ½ a lemon
extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the salsa rossa
• olive oil
• 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 small stick of cinnamon
• 1–2 small dried red chillies, crumbled
• 2–3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus extra for dressing
• 2 x 400g tins of good-quality plum tomatoes

for the lentils
• 400g lenticchie di Castelluccio or Puy lentils
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 bay leaf
• a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped, stalks reserved
• red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• a small handful of fresh thyme tips

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by Holly on Fri 02 Mar 2012 @ 20:37

<br /> Very nice but no need for the purple sprouting broccoli.

2. by Dillon on Fri 10 Feb 2012 @ 19:41

Just made this for a cold and frosty evening. Absolutely amazing! And oddly healthy for something that tastes so good.

3. by eayskm on Tue 26 Apr 2011 @ 12:12

om nom nom

4. by Rachel on Wed 27 Jan 2010 @ 01:30

Very tasty and quick to make. I used cider vinegar because for some reason I had no red wine vinegar. Other than that followed it exactly.

5. by Dan on Wed 21 Jan 2009 @ 21:43

Made this for dinner last night using regular green lentils. Turned out great, will def make again.

One tip, make sure u have enough water covering the lentils, as they do soak up quite abit while cooking.

6. by Sasha on Wed 07 Jan 2009 @ 03:29

made it tonight for dinner The whole family loved it! I used regular lentils. My son tried them for the first time and approved it! thank you! It's a very easy dish to prepare.

7. by ruszi on Thu 11 Dec 2008 @ 10:14

hmmmm, we loved it - it`s a great combination

8. by adyjb on Tue 09 Dec 2008 @ 08:53

tried this tonight and was very tasty. used lot of pots though. :)

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