This recipe combines two Nuyorican favorites: lentils and sausage. Now, the lentils can be brown, green or red lentils. In terms of the sausage, it can be beef, turkey, smoked or Italian sausage. Even the Vienna sausage out of the can cane be used. We don’t stand on formality here. Some folks prefer Spanish chorizo sausage common to our cuisine. And normally that would be our preference. Except that we had a package of chicken sausage links on hand, and we went with that. Also, for this recipe we used brown lentils which, depending on how old they are, will take 30 to 40 minutes to cook. Red lentils cook fast, maybe simmering 10 minutes or so in water. Green lentils take about 15-20 to cook at a slow simmer. Just use the taste test. That is, they should be tender with a slight crunchiness but not mushy.

When cooking with sausage note that some variety of sausage comes with a casing that has to be removed before cooking. To do this, make a cut along the sausage with a knife, peel off the casing and then slice the meat.

Normally with this dish, we would serve it with boiled rice.  This time around we paired it with wild rice which is not a true rice. It is a native North American grain. You can also pair it with couscous, quinoa or a small pasta such as orzo or radiatori. Even on its own, Lentejas con Salchicha makes for a great dinner.

LENTEJAS CON SALCHICHA
(Lentils with Sausage)

Ingredients:

1½ cups dried brown lentils (can use green or red lentils, see above)
4 cups water or broth
1 bay leaf
1 (12 -16 ounce) package sausage, cut diagonally into ¼-inch slices
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¾ teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions:

  1. Rince lentils in a fine-mesh strainer under cold, running water.
  2. Place lentils to a medium-sized saucepan. Add water or broth plus bay leaf. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil over high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cover. Cook until tender (30-40 minutes). If using red or green lentils, see above.
  3.  While lentils are cooking, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a fry pan or skillet. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft and translucent.
  4. Add sausage and cook over medium heat until browned on all sides.
  5.  Add tomato sauce, stir to combine, cover and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.
  6. Drain any excess liquid from the lentils. Stir in the sausage with the tomato sauce. Serve over rice, pasta or favorite grain.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.