Lentils are one of the things I really love, but I make them far too rarely. Somehow I always think they are far too time-consuming to prepare, and the association with a winter stew often comes to mind. Yet there are such wonderful recipes for spring and summer lentil salads!
I'm glad I remembered them again and found a truly fantastic salad for the new recipe of the week.
The original is prepared with mozzarella, pancetta, and oregano, but since we are French, I took what I had on hand. Anyone who looks at the original recipe in Valentina's cookbook will find that my version has become quite a freestyle, but that just shows once again how wonderfully flexible salads can be and how easily they can be turned into individual creations according to your mood.
This salad is admittedly a bit more elaborate than, for example, melon with ham, but it really is worth it – it combines pretty much all the flavors we love and makes us completely happy.
Ingredients for 4 - 6 people:
- 250g lentils (I used our wonderful green Lentilles)
- 6 figs (fresh or semi-dried, depending on the season)
- Goat cheese. For lovers of a slightly more pungent, drier cheese, we recommend Crottin; for friends of a younger, milder, fresher cheese, we recommend the ashed Sainte-Maure.
- Rosemary (fresh or dried)
- Thyme (fresh or dried)
- Fleur de Sel
- Honey, e.g. our liquid, aromatic Eucalyptus Honey
- Olive oil
- 3-Year-Old Vinegar from Martin Pouret in Orléans
- Piment d'Espelette
- 5 - 6 slices of Bayonne ham
- Juice of half an orange
- Arugula
- Fresh basil
Preparation:
Add the herbs to a large pot with 1.5 liters of water and bring to a boil. Add the lentils to the boiling water, cook for 30 - 40 minutes, and then drain through a sieve. Remove the herb stems.
Mix the lukewarm lentils with salt, 2 - 4 teaspoons of honey (to taste), 6 tablespoons of oil, and 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and Piment d'Espelette and serve lukewarm.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, place the ham slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and roast until crispy for approx. 10 minutes. If necessary, pat off excess fat.
Quarter the figs, place them in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little olive oil, honey, and orange juice, and then roast on the top rack for 10 minutes. If you're lucky, a fine layer of caramel will form ...
Wash the arugula and basil, shake dry, and place on a large plate. Add the lukewarm lentils on top and crumble the cheese over them. Distribute the figs over the top and garnish the whole thing with the roasted ham.
Bon appétit!
Our conclusion: This salad simply blew us away with its colorful bouquet of flavors: arugula and Piment d'Espelette for the heat, honey, fig, and orange juice for the sweetness, the crispy ham for the savory kick (keyword "umami"), the cheese for the creamy elegance, and the basil for that certain something.
We were also particularly (positively) surprised by how well basil and lentils go together.
It will certainly taste even better after being left to mature a little. My recommendation: don't be afraid to season it boldly and don't be timid with either the honey or the Piment d'Espelette. Also, choose arugula that is nice and bitter and, above all, spicy. It pairs perfectly with the sweet, Piment-seasoned lentils!
As a suitable wine pairing, we recommend the Sancerre Rosé 2016 Domaine Jean-Max Roger. An immediately appealing wine: it smells of apple sauce, is fresh, has a light acidity and aromas of raspberries, is elegant, silky, smoky, and slightly tart. In color, it reminds us of fresh salmon, and the varietal character of Pinot Noir is exemplarily pronounced
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The inspiration for this recipe comes from the cookbook "Lentils & Beans – The 100 Best Recipes for Legumes" by Manuela Rüther, Christian Verlag (2012). I found it on www.valentinas-kochbuch.de
