A very dear and a very old friend of mine used to subsist solely on chips, beans and sausages…..a terrible diet (he’s actually still alive which is a medical wonder) I think the beans were deep-fried along with the friggin’ sausages and chips. My bud who will remain nameless is a lazy eater, food doesn’t interest him…it’s there to make his ‘engine’ go as far as he is concerned but when I challenged the quality of the fuel it was deftly brushed aside.

So I made him this dish a few years back – my take on his beloved chips, beans and sausages (i have omitted the chips from this recipe) and challenged his pre-conceptions on the fuel he was existing on.

He hated it.

I felt triumphant.

WHAT YOU NEED – serves 4

4 Toulouse Sausages

2 cans of green lentils

1 small red onion

2 cloves garlic

A good handful of parsley

1 tps white pepper

50 mls chicken stock

50 mls white wine

Dijon mustard

HOW YOU DO IT

STEP1: Start by firing up a wide based frying pan and lugging in some olive oil. When hot dump in the sausages and brown a little all over – about 5 minutes should do it. Transfer the pan to a pre-heated oven at 180c to finish the sausages – this should take about 10 minutes.

STEP2: Next get the lentils together, drain them, wash them well and leave to one side.

STEP3: Finely dice up the onion and garlic and fry gently until soft – about 3 minutes. Then add the stock and white and reduce until almost gone. Finally add the lentils and warm through – taste and seasoning with the white pepper and salt and finish with a good handful of the chopped parsley.

STEP4: At this stage check the sausages – easiest way is to stick a prong of a fork into the centre, hold there for 3 seconds then touch it to your lip – hot? Done.

STEP5: Take a big spoon of the lentils and add to a plate, carve 1 sausage in two and set on the lentils then finish with a tps of the mustard, a scattering of parsley and a few lugs of olive oil.

On a side note – this works incredibly well with sautéed rosemary potatoes…..which my mate also hated….happy about that 🙂

FEEL LIKE A BEER? TRY THIS:

JACK CODY’S SMIGGY AMBER ALE