The Hungarian name for this dish is Rántott Lencse Fözelék (say THAT three times fast!)
Anyway, you don't have to speak Hungarian to enjoy this dish. It is one of the all-time family favorites in my family. The scents and flavors take me right back to my grandmother's table - where everyone was welcome and had no doubt that she showed her love with food. This is good comfort food that's also perfect for cold weather because this is stick-to-your-ribs stuff that warms you up. The best part is that it is very easy to make (see below for a tip on how to make it vegan). Here's how:
Ingredients:
1 12oz. package of dried lentils
1 large onions
1 package of Healthy Choice Smoked Turkey Sausage (or any kind of smoked meat)
3 – 4 packets of MBT low sodium beef boullion
2 – 3 tablespoons of flour
2 – 3 tablespoons of paprika
Bay leaves (I often forget and it still tastes good anyway)
Olive Oil
salt to taste
6 – 8 cups of water
Lentils:
Set the pot to boil with the boullion, while you hand-sort the lentils (sometimes rocks or twigs end up being harvested with the lentils). Rinse the lentils in the sink and then put them right in the pot. Bring the pot to a boil and then lower the heat and cover the pot so the lentils cook on a low boil when you prepare the other ingredients.
Sausage:
Slice it in 1/4 inch rounds, and then cut those in quarters to there are many small pieces. This is only necessary to keep any one person from fishing out all the sausage (not that would happen in our house, but just in case...). As soon as the sausage is diced, you can put it into the pot.
Rántás:
The basis for all Hungarian stews begins with “rántás” - finely minced onion, slowly sautéed on a low flame until they are agreeable and pliant like a beautiful woman on a moonlit night after a few glasses of wine. In other words, when they are transparent and nice and soft (the onions that is). Use about 2 – 3 tbsp of olive oil. The French and foodies know this as "roux."
Anyway, you don't have to speak Hungarian to enjoy this dish. It is one of the all-time family favorites in my family. The scents and flavors take me right back to my grandmother's table - where everyone was welcome and had no doubt that she showed her love with food. This is good comfort food that's also perfect for cold weather because this is stick-to-your-ribs stuff that warms you up. The best part is that it is very easy to make (see below for a tip on how to make it vegan). Here's how:
Ingredients:
1 12oz. package of dried lentils
1 large onions
1 package of Healthy Choice Smoked Turkey Sausage (or any kind of smoked meat)
3 – 4 packets of MBT low sodium beef boullion
2 – 3 tablespoons of flour
2 – 3 tablespoons of paprika
Bay leaves (I often forget and it still tastes good anyway)
Olive Oil
salt to taste
6 – 8 cups of water
Lentils:
Set the pot to boil with the boullion, while you hand-sort the lentils (sometimes rocks or twigs end up being harvested with the lentils). Rinse the lentils in the sink and then put them right in the pot. Bring the pot to a boil and then lower the heat and cover the pot so the lentils cook on a low boil when you prepare the other ingredients.
Sausage:
Slice it in 1/4 inch rounds, and then cut those in quarters to there are many small pieces. This is only necessary to keep any one person from fishing out all the sausage (not that would happen in our house, but just in case...). As soon as the sausage is diced, you can put it into the pot.
Rántás:
The basis for all Hungarian stews begins with “rántás” - finely minced onion, slowly sautéed on a low flame until they are agreeable and pliant like a beautiful woman on a moonlit night after a few glasses of wine. In other words, when they are transparent and nice and soft (the onions that is). Use about 2 – 3 tbsp of olive oil. The French and foodies know this as "roux."
Once the onions are ready, raise the flame, sprinkle in the paprika and mix it up so that the paprika gets toasted to bring out the flavor. Then, sprinkle in the flour (hand sifting with a wire mesh strainer works great) and mix it very well with the spatula. It comes out better if you first mix the flour into a runny paste with a little water and a hand blender and then pour that mixture into the sauteed onions and paprika to finish the rántás. The correct consistency of rántás is thick and pasty, and it should be reddish-orange in color.
Bring it all Together:
Stir the rántás into the lentil soup. Put a few spoonfuls of the liquid from the soup into the saucepan to get whatever is stuck to the pan. Keep stirring the pot until it is well blended and there are no lumps. Bring the heat back down to a low simmer and let it all cook together for another 30 minutes or so. Serve it on a bed of rice (see the post on Feijoada for a tip on how to make good rice).
Bring it all Together:
Stir the rántás into the lentil soup. Put a few spoonfuls of the liquid from the soup into the saucepan to get whatever is stuck to the pan. Keep stirring the pot until it is well blended and there are no lumps. Bring the heat back down to a low simmer and let it all cook together for another 30 minutes or so. Serve it on a bed of rice (see the post on Feijoada for a tip on how to make good rice).
How to make this dish vegan:
Sausage plays an important role in the flavor of this dish because it adds a smoky flavor. If you use a smoked paprika when preparing the rántás, that will add the smoky flavor and you can forgo the sausage altogether. There is a smoked paprika on the market from Spain called "pimentón," and to my knowledge there is no smoked paprika from Hungary. The brand I buy is called "El Rey de la Vera" (see picture to the left). For this dish, be careful to select the sweet variety ("dulce") because the spicy variety ("picante") as shown is very spicy. Locally, you can find this at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill.
Jó étvágyatt! (That's "bon appetit" in Hungarian.)
Serves appx. 8 adults.
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