Mediterranean Lentil Ragout
Easy Recipe
This easy recipe for Mediterranean Lentil Ragout is tasty, healthy, and fairly quick to make. Unlike many other recipes, this dish has a ton of "punchy" flavor, which comes mainly from the orange juice, mint, and fennel... a very interesting combination that isn't common in Western-style cooking.If you're wondering what the heck "Ragout" is (pronounced "ra-goo"), it's a super-thick stew that almost has the consistency of a casserole. This recipe suggests that you serve it over rice, quinoa, or bulgur, but I find that it's already thick enough with the lentils that putting it over rice is just a little much, so I usually serve it on its own. I personally love this recipe because it's full of healthy lean protein (great for dinner when you shouldn't be eating too many carbs), and freezes really well. Unfortunately, Andrew doesn't really love it (probably because he's a meat-eater and this is a vegetarian dish), so I make the best of the situation by making a big pot of it, and then dishing it out into small containers which I freeze. Then whenever I'm making Andrew something meaty for dinner and don't feel like making something different for myself, I just pull a little ragout-treat out of the freezer, nuke it, and I'm good to go!
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-1 large onion, finely chopped
-5 cloves garlic, finely minced
-1 large fennel bulb, sliced thin (or use 3 Tbs dried fennel)
-1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
-2 cups orange juice (have extra on hand just in case)
-1 1/3 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed (dried peas also work well, but soak them for a few hours beforehand)
-1 Tbsp dried basil (or fresh, chopped)
-1 Tbsp dried oregano
-1/4 cup tomato paste
-1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped (4-5 drops mint essential oil also works)
-2 skinny eggplants, chopped into small pieces
-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in 2-3 pieces each
-6 cups brown rice, quinoa, or bulgur
-Parmesan cheese (optional)
1. Put olive oil into a heavy pot. Over low heat saute onion, garlic, and fennel, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, orange juice, lentils, eggplant, basil, oregano, and tomato paste. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 40-50 minutes, or until lentils are tender (check by taking a few lentil out of the pot and biting on them). (Add more orange juice or water if ragout gets too thick.)
3. Stir in mint leaves, keeping 2 Tbsp for the garnish. Serve over rice and garnish with Parmesan cheese and mint.
Makes 6-8 servings Tips: The lentils often sink to the bottom where they stick to the pot and burn easily, so be sure to stir quite often. If you have a thicker pot this might not be as much of an issue for you, but all I have to work with at the moment is a wok which is paper-thin. The first time I made this it burned a bit, and then the whole recipe tasted burnt... there's no mistaking the taste of burned tomatoes... not so pleasing to the palate!
By the way, if you're wondering why I only have a wok to cook in, it's because we're living in Shanghai, China right now, where everything is small and Chinese-y, including our kitchen. And if you think this is tight, it's 3 times the size of the kitchen we had in last year's apartment!Whenever I want to complain though, I have to stop and remind myself that we still have it better than 66% of the world! Kinda keeps things in perspective...
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