Braised Lentils With Olive Rouille
Jul 21st, 2008 | By Peter Minakis | Category: French, Legume, Recipe, Side, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Us Greeks commonly use lentils to make an oft’ enjoyed soup called Fakkes. Yes, it sounds like you’re swearing so, practice saying it…Fakk-es…Fakk-es…Fakk-es. Okay, lesson over.
When I recently met up with Judy of No fear Entertaining, I had a braised lamb shank that sat on a bed of braised lentils and I had a craving for it again.
One of my recent food book buys was “Olives, Cooking With Olives and Their Oils”, by Ford Rogers. If anyone wants a primer on olives, picking, curing and of course, cooking with them – then this book’s for you. It’s inexpensive and it actually has some decent recipes , like the one I’m about to show you now.
It’s a simple braised lentil dish, good warm or room temperature and it made a fine bed for my red snapper of yesterday.
The process is simple, lots of flavour gets coaxed out of the lentils but what makes this a standout is the accompanying red sauce called a Rouille.
A Rouille is a spicy French paste that’s usually made to accompany a fish but contains no olives. This version provides the flavour and depth and it was reminiscent of a Romesco sauce.
If you’re looking for a healthy, flavourful and guilt-free side dish, try these braised lentils and don’t forget the Rouille!
Braised Lentils With Olive Rouille
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
2 cups of dried lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups of chicken (vegetable) broth
1 bay leaf
a few sprigs of fresh oregano
a few springs of parsley
salt and pepper to taste
For the Rouille
2 Tbsp. of red wine vinegar
2/3 cup of soft bread crumbs
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 cup of pitted green olives
2 red chili peppers
1 small roasted red pepper
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium-high heat and then add your shallots, carrots and celery until soft and translucent (about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the lentils, herbs and broth and bring to a boil. Now cover and reduce to simmer for about 30-40 minutes or until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Discard the herbs and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.
- While the lentils are cooking, make the rouille by combining the all the ingredients in a food processor except for the olive oil.
- Process to chop everything and scrape down the sides to ensure all the ingredients get blended well. With the machine running, pour in the oil in a slow & steady stream until it’s all incorporated and smooth.
- Serve lentils with a small dollop of rouille on each serving.
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© 2008 – 2009, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
This is perfect — I love lentils and the Rouille looks like it has plenty of zip and zing!
Peter I have to try this Lentils recipe I love so, here we make the lentils with grated cheese and rice or some bread moist in milk,,(is so simple) and is so yummy too, but this is so different and I like so!!Gloria
Really; I love your apron, only I want to know….!!!!
So riddle me this, how is this not a tapenade if rouille contains no olives?
Thanks for the lead on a good olive book, Peter. I always snap up anything I can find about olives.
I’m confused like Heather (the Rouille) has olives.But nevertheless it looks mighty tasty.I love olives so bring them on.
We don’t have lentils often — or at all. This looks like a good recipe to spring on unsuspecting folks. ;)
I have never had lentils……I need to get out more lol
Looks yummy Peter.
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m a huge fan of lentils, so your yummy recipe has caught my attention! I wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m so glad you posted the lentil recipe as it caught my attention with the snapper recipe. The Rouille sounds outstanding and would taste great on so many things. Yum, yum!
will a blender do the trick? I feel like i am underutilizing my blender (it is THIS close from being used as a storage)
Mmmm..fakkes! Deliciously done with that rouille. Great stuff Peter.
this is so awesome Peter!! my hubby loves lentilles i’ll definitely give a try on this recipe :-)
btw, your red snapper recipe will surely rock again the Royal Foodie Joust..hmmm how about winning in a row??
o – i love that olive rouille! it looks fabulous with the lentils!! lovely recipe! thanks.
Looks great Peter. I love braised pulses and lentils are among my favourites! The Rouille looks really good too.
You know that we make fakes in a completely different way!
Your receipe sounds very interesting. I thing that even my “difficult” son, who doesn’t like fakes at all, will appreciate it:))
Allen, zip&zing is a perfect way to describe this.
Gloria, lentils are so tasty and healthy for you.
Heather, a tapenade (strict def.) is black olives, capers and olive oil and then it too gets the mix up with other ingredients added. The largest ingredient in this Rouille is bread crumbs.
Lulu, it's a fine book for how cheap it is.
Glamah, look up at the reply I gave for Heather.
JS, they are easy, healhty and delish.
Jan, you jave to try some…I reckon you'll fancy them!
Rosa, glad it caught your eye.
Paula, I have some leftover Rouille and not sure what to do with it…hmmm.
Rita, a blender would work but use the pulse feature.
Pete, I'm really diggin the more solid lentil dishes out there.
Dhanngit, your Joust dish is a contender…I won't win this time.
Thanks Arundathi.
Joanne, it had a remarkable flavour considering how easy it came together.
Elena, yes…our fakkes are a soup but the falvours here are similar and I promise you the taste will appeal to a Greek's palate.
It’s nice learning new ways to make lentils. The rouille sounds great.
Loving the rouille Peter. This is a seriously good looking summer dish!
Cheers
David
I’m taking baby steps in learning to like olives. I don’t like them whole yet, but I know if I mince Kalamata and mix them into something I like the flavor. I might have to give this one a try. It’s the first time green olives look interesting to me!
Rouille….Romesco..oh baby does that look wonderful.
As usual.
I haven’t had lentils in like… forever, Pete! This is calling out my name.
This looks really exciting, in contrast to the usual reputation of lentils.
This looks amazing, Peter! I love lentils, but often find them a bit bland – your rouille would solve that in a heartbeat!
These look so warm and comforting. Nicely done!
I love olives and very happy I found this blog because I have been trying to get into more Greek cooking. I am definitely heading to Borders to find that book tonight!
Awesome job and it looks so tasty.
I have a bag of lentils that need to be used. I think I am going to try this recipe I just need to pick up some things at the store and I’ll be ready to have a taste of Greece :)
The rouille looks gorgeous in contrast to the lentils. The whole dish is incredible appealing and comforting. I just love lentils.
Ivy, the flavours here would appeal to Greeks, have this cold in the summer.
David Thanks…I’m going to make another batch of this.
Mary, try the different types and I’m sure you’ll find one that you will love.
Thanks M. Coleman!
Patricia, we all need more lentils in our diet.
Fearless, agreed….I want more!
Jen, nothing bland about this dish.
Thanks dragon and on the previous post, I was joking too…no insult taken.
Welcome Jeff and I hope you find the book, good bang for your buck.
Ben, you’ll enjoy this and relish in that it’s healthy too.
Thanks Bridget…I think kids would love this too.
Oh oh oh!!! My name again! Love seeing my name on other people’s blogs!
These lentils look incredible. Do they taste like the ones you had? If so I need to make this now!
Sounds good Peter I have a lentil package in my pantry. Love the idea
I just bought some lentils today and I’ve been trying to decide what to do with them!
hey Peter! Lentils (and mushrooms) are the two ingredients that I most hated as a child and now cannot live without!
btw, do Greeks use lentils as a symbol for celebration like they do in Italy during New Years? Just curious : )
I used to cringe at fakkes as a child, but now I absolutely adore them. This recipe looks great and the rouille sounds perfect.
I love “rouille” with fish soup but I never tried with lentils, though I love these very much.
Peter, this looks and reads like a wonderful dish! Like most Greeks, I simply love lentils and I look forward to trying this recipe out. :)
Sounds fantastic, lentils are one of those things I’ve always wanted to experiment with but just haven’t gotten around to yet.
I had a lentil dish many years ago when I lived in Cyprus.
It was not a main dish but the fresh bread, coupled with the olive oil and pureed lentils made an excellent dip.
Thanks Peter!!
I love lentils in all their ways! Never tried with Rouille though… another dish for the winter time. Sorry boy, but it’s just too hot here for this kind of dishes ;-)
Judy, if you put a dab of the rouille on the lentils…the taste is similar.
Sylvia, this is a wonderful dish to use that package up for.
Pam..decisions – decisions…aren’t we fickle eaters?
Antonio, I’m not aware of lentils as part of our Xmas or New Year’s celebrations but pomegranates are big.
Elly, me too but now I relish them!
Diane, I mentioned rouille’s use with fish but it works wonderfully here.
Sam, it’s a simple dish and wonderful even without the rouille.
Marc, don’t be shy…you got the skills…they are very versatile.
Sue, that sounds yummy, thanks for sharing.
Nuria, this was eaten room temp.cold…sorry girl.
I’m a big fan of braised lentils. Done well, they can be surprisingly good. These certainly look as though they fall in that category!
gorgeous – this one has really grabbed me!
I love lentils… this is a wonderful new way for me to prepare them!
This is my favourite way to prepare lentils – yum! And I love the idea of an adapted rouille to add an olivey zing to this dish – definitely a keeper!
I want absolutely to test this rouille. Just perfect with Lentilles du Puy.
I absolutely love lentils and cannot begin to describe how good this sounds. Yum!
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