One Pot Sausages and Lentils

Nigella Lawson makes a tasty looking version of this ... but this recipe from BBC Good Food Website is pretty much the same in terms of ingredients however the whole thing is simplified by getting things done in just one pot. Less washing up = happy me :) I cooked this for the first time tonight and the recipe is really simple, and the flavours were fantastic BUT the green lentils i bought took ages to cook and and absorbed about four times the water in the recipe. I've never cooked lentils before so it may have been me. I didn't soak them, but the packet specifically said not too.

Ingredients

Olive Oil
400g Pack of Sausages
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Garlic Clove, Crushed
1 Red Pepper, Sliced
250g Puy/Green Lentils
150ml Veg Stock (I needed MUCH more than this)
125ml Red Wine or extra stock

Fry the sausages for five minutes until brown then put them aside.

In the same pan add onions, peppers and garlic and soften for five minutes adding extra oil if necessary

Return the sausages to the pan with the lentils, wine and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the lentils are soft. (I found i needed to add loads more water/stock and cook it for much longer to get the lentils soft enough ... I suppose it depends on your lentils so use the packet as a guide).

Serve with crusty bread. Serves 4 (apparently ... but many 400g packs of sausage contain 6 sausages which is problematic so really it probably serves 3 at best. If my experience is anything to go by you could half the amount of lentils and triple the amount of water and cooking time you've probably got a great meal for two without any need for bread.)

At the time of writing this recipe can be found on the following link :  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2233/sausage-and-lentil-onepot