Lenteja pa las lentejas

28 years of my life have flown by and today was the first time I tackled making lentils.  Sad.

My hubs has been begging me for lentils for weeks and today I gave in and went for it.  I had most of the ingredients I needed, but to make the Chilean version (at least the one I grew up with) you need Spanish sausage (chorizo) or bacon.  I had neither.

Here's the recipe as a reference.  It's from "The Chilean Kitchen" cookbook:

1 1/2 cup lentils
4 cups water
Salt, to taste,
1 tbs lard or vegetable oil (I always use vegetable oil if I can avoid lard)
1 1/2 inch link chorizo or other Spanish-type spicy sausage, diced (sadness)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
1/2 serrano or jalapeño chile, finely minced (I ignored this)
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1 tsp sweet paprika 
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup long grain rice (I used 1/4c)
1 tbsp finely minced fresh parsley (didn't have any)
2 hard-cooked eggs (optional), finely chopped (I chose not to)

Pick through the lentils, and remove any small stones or other foreign objects.  Rinse the lentils, and place them in a heavy saucepan.  Add the water, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, and simmer covered until soft but still holding their shape, 15 to 25 minutes.  (Cooking times vary according to size and age of the lentils.)  Season with salt.


Meanwhile, heat the lard in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the sausage, onion and carrot, and cook 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, chile, paprika, cumin and oregano; season with salt and cook 1 minute.  Stir the onion mixture into the lentils with the rice, and simmer partly covered until the rice is tender and the lentils very soft, 15 to 20 minutes.  The dish should be moist but not soupy.


Just before serving, correct the seasonings; the dish should be highly seasoned.  Serve in earthenware bowls or deep plates, sprinkled with the parsley and hard-cooked egg.

Like I said, today was the first time I made lentils, ever, so I really had no clue what I was doing.  I simmered the lentils for about 15 minutes but I probably should have simmered them longer because they aren't soft enough.  Definitely season it more! I dunno if it was "Taiwan Lentils" or the fact that I didn't have the yummy sausage to go with them, but they tasted like a lot of nothing until I added a bunch more paprika and salt.

Not a complete fail.  I'll try again soon.  After a good Costco run with all the right ingredients, perhaps it will taste better.

Here's a photo! Over and out ;).

Last night after posting this and feeling quite frustrated at the results of my lentils, I put them in the slow cooker and left them all night.  The result: perfect texture! Taste wasn't half bad either! Wooo!