Toulouse-style sausages with lentils, herbs and red wine

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 8 good-quality Toulouse-style pork sausages
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, cut into small dice
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 200ml dry red wine
• 500ml chicken stock
• 250g Puy or green lentils, rinsed
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1 small rosemary sprig
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Brown the sausages

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole or deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sausages and cook for 8–10 minutes, turning regularly, until nicely browned all over.

They do not need to be cooked through at this stage. We are simply getting a good bit of colour on them before the lentils take over the slower part of proceedings.

Lift the sausages onto a plate and set aside.

2. Start the base

Add the onion, carrots and celery to the same pan with a small pinch of salt. Cook gently for 8–10 minutes until softened and beginning to colour.

Stir in the garlic and tomato purée and cook for another 2 minutes. The purée should darken slightly and start sticking to the bottom of the pan in a useful sort of way.

3. Add the wine

Pour in the red wine and bring it to a lively simmer, scraping up all those browned bits from the base of the pan.

Let it bubble for 3–4 minutes until reduced slightly. This gives the wine a chance to mellow rather than simply taste as though somebody emptied a glass into dinner at the last minute.

4. Add the lentils

Pour in the chicken stock, then add the lentils, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary.

Bring to a gentle simmer, cover loosely and cook for around 15 minutes. The lentils should be starting to soften but still have plenty of bite.

5. Return the sausages

Nestle the browned sausages back into the lentils, along with any juices from the plate.

Continue to cook gently for another 20–25 minutes, partially covered, until the sausages are completely cooked through and the lentils are tender but still holding their shape.

If the pan becomes too dry before the lentils are ready, add a splash more stock or hot water.

6. Finish the lentils

Remove the bay leaves and herb stalks, then stir in the Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar.

Taste and adjust with salt and plenty of black pepper. The lentils should be rich and savoury, with enough acidity to stop the whole thing becoming too heavy.

7. Let everything settle

Take the pan off the heat and leave it to stand for 5 minutes.

This gives the lentils time to absorb a little more of the sauce and means the sausages are less likely to launch boiling-hot juices at the first person who cuts into them.

8. Serve

Spoon the lentils into warm bowls and sit the sausages on top. Scatter generously with parsley and serve with crusty bread or buttery mashed potatoes if you are feeling particularly committed.

A couple of helpful notes
- Puy or firm green lentils are best here because they keep their shape during cooking. Red lentils will turn the whole thing into a very different sort of dinner.
- Toulouse sausages are traditionally generously seasoned with garlic and pepper, but a good coarse pork sausage will work perfectly well if you cannot find them.
- This reheats beautifully the next day, when the lentils have had even more time to absorb the wine, herbs and sausage juices.