Written by Jared Kent
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If you're not super familiar with Spanish food, this lentil stew is a delicious introduction. It has a rustic, simplistic elegance and is filed with enticing flavours.
A spice combination of toasted paprika, chili powder, and cayenne pepper give the stew a nuanced backbone of heat and smoke while lending it an appealing shade of mahogany. A dollop of tomato paste adds a subtle sweetness while a splash of white wine provides a gentle acidic lift and a bundle of thyme and parsley stems perfume the stew with herbaceous notes.
A little bit of flour is added to impart a slight toasted popcorn-like flavour to the pot and thicken the stew. Onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes make up the vegetable blend that gratuitously soak up the spices as they cook in the homemade vegetable stock.
Finally, the stew is finished with a little butter and cream for some richness, but you can definitely skip these if you want to keep it a little bit lighter. When chopping the fresh parsley, be sure to save the stems to add into the stew with the thyme. Parsley stems are too often discarded but are generally even more flavourful than the leaves.
Depending on your level of heat tolerance, you can add or subtract some of the cayenne and chili powder.
Cooking with Lentils
For vegetarian cooking, lentils are a true powerhouse. They're cheap, highly nutritious, very flexible, and they keep indefinitely. A cup of cooked lentils contains nearly 18 grams of protein that is accompanied by plenty of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Lentils have a slightly earthy flavour but its very mild, which means lentils are very versatile; they can go in a great number of different dishes.
There are several different colours of lentils available on the market and all them cook slightly differently. Brown and green lentils are the most common kind. They can be found in soups, stews, sauces, and many other dishes. These lentils will take 20-30 minutes to cook and will get soft and start to split a little when they're cooked.
Red lentils are a little less common and tend to cook and fall apart a little quicker. Black lentils are the least common and are the thickest-skinned, they'll take 40-45 minutes to cook and retain their shape, making them great for salads. For this dish, green or brown lentils would be ideal.
Whenever you cook lentils, be sure to pick through them quickly and give them a little rinse, as sometimes you'll find small rocks or pebbles in with the lentils.
Spanish Spiced Lentil and Potato Stew
This rustic and simple stew is spicy, smoky, warming and flavourful. Those who like stews will love this one, and those who don't should get ready to have their minds changed.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter (divided in half)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 white onion (diced medium-sized)
- 3 carrots (peeled and diced medium-sized)
- 3 stalks celery (medium diced)
- 6 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 8 sprigs thyme (tied into a bundle with a little bit of twine along with the parsley stems)
- 1/2 bunch parsley (picked and roughly chopped, stems reserved and tied into a bundle with the thyme)
- 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 5 cups vegetable stock (heated to a simmer)
- 1/2 cup green or brown lentils (rinsed and picked through)
- 4 white potatoes (washed and cut into medium-sized cubes)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Heat the olive oil and half the butter over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables start to get brown.
- Add the bundle of herbs and the tomato paste to the pot, cook for 2-3 more minutes, toasting the tomato paste. Add the flour then the white wine, cooking each for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the hot stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add lentils, simmer for 30-35 minutes or until lentils are soft.
- Meanwhile, lightly roast the potatoes in a hot pan with a little canola or vegetable oil to get some colour on the outside. Add the potatoes to the pot with 15 minutes left to go. Simmer until the lentils and potatoes are soft.
- Once the potatoes and lentils are soft add the second half of the butter, the cream, the vinegar, and the chopped parsley. Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately while hot.
Notes
Substitutions
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar: 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
cup heavy cream: cup whole milk or cup half & half
cup dry white wine: 2 tablespoons white wine, red wine, or apple cider vinegar with a cup water
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