Lentils are one of those things I personally love, but make far too rarely. I always think they're too complicated to prepare, and often the first thing that comes to mind is a winter stew. But there are so many wonderful recipes for spring and summer lentil salads!
Glad I remembered and found a really fantastic salad for this week's new recipe.
The original recipe is made with mozzarella, pancetta, and oregano, but since we're French, I used whatever I could find. If you take a look at the original recipe in Valentina's cookbook, you'll notice that my version is pretty freestyle, but that just goes to show how wonderfully flexible salads can be and how easily you can transform them into your own creations as the mood takes you.
Admittedly, this salad is a bit more complicated than, for example, melon with ham, but it's really worth it - it combines just about all the flavors we love and makes us happy all around.
Ingredients for 4 - 6 people:
- 250g lentils (I used our wonderful green lentils )
- 6 figs (fresh or semi-dried, depending on the season)
- Goat cheese. For lovers of slightly spicier, drier cheeses, we recommend Crottin; for fans of younger, milder, fresher cheeses, we recommend the ash-cured Sainte-Maure.
- Rosemary (fresh or dried)
- Thyme (fresh or dried)
- Fleur de Sel
- Honey, e.g. our liquid, aromatic eucalyptus honey
- olive oil
- Vinegar 3 years old from Martin Pouret from Orléans
- Espelette pepper
- 5 - 6 slices of Bayonne ham
- Juice of half an orange
- arugula
- Fresh basil
Preparation:
Place the herbs in a large pot with 1.5 liters of water and bring to a boil. Add the lentils to the boiling water, cook for 30-40 minutes, and then drain through a sieve. Remove the herb stems.
Mix the lukewarm lentils with salt, 2-4 teaspoons of honey (to taste), 6 tablespoons of oil, and 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and Espelette pepper and keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, place the ham slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake for about 10 minutes until crispy. Pat off any excess fat if necessary.
Quarter the figs, place them in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, honey, and orange juice, and then bake on the top rack for 10 minutes. If you're lucky, a fine layer of caramel will form...
Wash the arugula and basil, shake dry, and place them on a large plate. Top with the lukewarm lentils and crumble the cheese over them. Scatter the figs over the top and garnish with the baked ham.
Bon appetite!
Our conclusion: This salad simply blew us away with its colorful bouquet of flavors: arugula and allspice for the spice, honey, fig, and orange juice for the sweetness, the crispy ham for the spice (keyword "umami"), the cheese for the creamy elegance, and the basil for that certain something.
We were particularly (positively) surprised by how well basil and lentils go together.
It's sure to be even better if it's marinated a bit. My recommendation: go bold with the seasoning and don't be squeamish with the honey or allspice. Also, choose arugula, which is nicely bitter and, above all, spicy. It pairs perfectly with the sweet lentils seasoned with allspice!
As a suitable wine accompaniment, we recommend the Sancerre Rosé 2016 Domaine Jean-Max Roger . An immediately appealing wine: aromas of apple sauce, fresh, light acidity, and aromas of raspberries, elegant, silky, smoky, and slightly tart. Its color is reminiscent of fresh salmon, and the varietal character of the Pinot Noir is clearly evident.
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The inspiration for this recipe comes from the cookbook " Lentils & Beans – The 100 Best Recipes for Pulses" by Manuela Rüther, Christian Verlag (2012). I found it at www.valentinas-kochbuch.de
