Braised Lentils with Orange Roast Carrots and Sosmix Sausages
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At the start of the year we bought a seasonal guide called The Almanac by Lia Leendertz which offers you a month by month guide to the world around you, including seasonal recipes. This one is from January, traditionally eaten on New Years Day for good luck!
You’ll need a large saucepan, mixing bowl, frying pan and baking tray.
Serves 4
Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)
For the lentils
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
6 tablespoons Olive Oil (approx 40p)
5 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
250g dark speckled lentils (88p)
125ml red wine
750ml stock or water (approx 7p with Bouillon)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
juice 1 lemon
2 tablespoons parsley (approx 20p)
salt and pepper
For Carrots
1 small oranges or clementines, peeled
4 large carrots, topped and tailed and quartered or halved into long batons
3 tablespoons Olive Oil (approx 20p)
1 tablespoon fennel seeds (approx 18p)
salt and pepper
For Sausages
100g sosmix (£1)
1 teaspoon each of rosemary, thyme and cinnamon (approx 39p)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (approx 8p)
Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £3.40/ £0.85 pp
Method
Preheat oven 190 C.
To make sosmix sausages place sosmix and herbs and spices into bowl and mix. Add approx 160ml water slowly stirring mixture, will be a wet mix, leave to one side.
Prepare the carrots by putting halved oranges/clementines and the cut carrots in baking tray, covering with oil. Sprinkle fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Place in oven to cook 30-45 mins, turning them a couple of times during cooking.
To cook lentils, gently cook the diced onion and carrot in the olive oil until soft then add garlic and cook for a few mins more. Tip in the lentils, mixing them into the oil, then add the wine. Turn up the heat, stirring until wine has been absorbed by the lentils. Add stock or water and the bay leaf, bring to boil and then simmer for around 20-30mins. When done season with salt and pepper, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and stir in parsley.
Meanwhile make the sausages by scooping a handful of sosmix mix in hands and create sausage shapes, mix should produce 6 sausages. Gently heat sausages in frying pan with oil, turning gently.
To assemble dish make a bed of lentils and top with the carrots and sausages. Squeeze juice of roasted oranges over dish, drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Zero Waste Tips
Use discarded orange peel as firelighters by leaving to dry and then using!
Save carrot peelings to make your own veg stock - freeze until you have enough veg scraps to make.
If you have any left over lentil mix tastes great the next day, beef up with extra veges and a side of grain.