One of the other dishes Stephanie’s sister made for us while we were in France was lentils with sausages, or saucisses-lentilles. It’s a very simple dish, not as memorable as hachis parmentier (I mean with a name like that…), but something Stephanie thinks about every time we pass the lentils at Trader Joe’s. Given the plenitude of carrots in our veggie box lately, we finally picked up some pre-cooked black beluga lentils on our last shopping trip, along with some uncured kielbasa.

So tonight while Stephanie was at pilates, I adapted this French recipe as follows. Serves 2-3.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion
• 4 slices of thick cut bacon
• 2 big carrots or 4-5 thin carrots
• 1 half kielbasa sausage
• 3/4 cup of white wine
• 3/4 cup of water
• 8oz cooked lentils
• 3 tbsp dijon mustard

Instructions

1. Cut onion in half and slice each half thinly
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter and sweat the onions over medium-low heat
3. Dice bacon and start browning in a frying pan
4. Peel carrots and cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
5. Add the carrots to the onions when they’ve started to brown
6. Strain the diced bacon and add to the onion and carrots, discarding the leftover fat
7. Cut kielbasa sausage into diagonal slices and brown on the frying pan
8. Add the white wine and water to the onions, carrots, and bacon. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.
9. Add the browned sausages and lentils to the saucepan and simmer covered for 10 minutes
10. Uncover and continue cooking until the excess liquid has been absorbed/evaporated
11. Stir in mustard just before serving
12. Season with salt and pepper to taste