Lens Qulinarus

Where are we at? I’m losing track… hmm… Day 17, and counting. At the least, we’ve got another twelve to go, and even if total quarantine is lifted, I imagine that there will be some strictures left in place. The estimated “peak” here in Argentina isn’t until the end of April or first week in May. And that’s just speculation.

So what’s up on the chopping block today? Lentils, the Lens culinarus, literally, the “culinary lens”. And, before yet another of my porteño friends opines on another of my quarantine recipes with “that’s not how it’s done here”… you didn’t create lentils, you didn’t invent the lentil stew, I know you think you did, but you didn’t. Lentil stew goes back to before Argentina was a glimmer in Spain’s eye. The particular version I tend to make is a spin-off of an old Umbrian Zuppa di lenticchie di Castelluccio recipe. Now, given that it involves tomatoes, at its earliest, this particular zuppe can’t go back before the introduction of that red globe to Italy in 1548, though I’m sure there were tomato-less versions prior. On with the show.

Now – a couple of minor adjustments, for what’s available both in general here, and more in particular, during our “Q”. It’s near impossible to find good, traditional, Italian sausages here – you know, the kind with fennel seeds, and a touch of Calabrian chili. And the few places that have them, not open right now. You’d think, given that almost half of all Argentines are of Italian descent, that you could find these easily, in any butcher shop, but no, you have to go to specialty shops. So, I’m using local chorizos.

And, apparently, in lieu of toilet paper as the thing that everyone went out and stocked up on, panceta, or bacon, has disappeared from all my local markets that are open (very few in the first place, basically two supermarkets and two small markets within a few block radius). We haven’t been able to get any in two weeks. Ah well, we’ll just have to do without it. I’m going to throw in a little smoked and cured fuet sausage from Tandil out in the southern reaches of the province to make up for it.

Soak your lentils (500gm/1lb dry) for a few hours or overnight. Since we were making this for dinner, I put them in a bowl of cold water around noon. Now, do you have to soak lentils? No. You can cook them from dry. You just have to spend more time paying attention, and this make it easy, as they’ll end up cooking in about 35-40 minutes from the time you start putting this dish together.

In olive oil, in a big pot, saute a chopped onion, a couple of stalks of celery, a couple of cloves of garlic, and a couple of chilies (or a teaspoon or two of chili flakes, depending on how hot you want this dish). If I’d had bacon, I’d have also tossed in about 100gm/3oz of chopped bacon. When softened, about 5-6 minutes…

…add the drained (and rinsed) lentils, and a 500ml/17oz carton or can of tomato puree.

Add stock to just cover the lentils by about a centimeter/half an inch (a little over a liter, or a quart). You can use whatever type of stock you like – vegetable, beef, chicken, or… bacon! Also, about 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Given that the lentils are soaked, they’ll be almost done.

I usually then throw in a chopped bunch of arugula, but, again, none available here in the ‘hood. But, I had a bok choy in the vegetable crisper, so I chopped that up and tossed it in.

Also, sliced up that cured sausage and added it to the pot. If I’d have had the bacon, I’d have probably not added these. Or, maybe so…?

Cut up the fresh chorizos or other sausages into bite sized pieces and saute them until browned. Some people leave these whole and then nestle them into the lentils – I like to cut them up so you get them in a bite now and again. Toss them into the pot.

Deglaze the saute pan with a splash of water to get all those browned bits and such. Toss that in the pot too. Mix it all up, and let it cook another 10 minutes, by then the lentils should be cooked through. Taste, adjust seasoning – at this point I added about a teaspoon of ground black pepper and two of salt.