Recipe: Sausages with Chorizo and Lentils

• I made this Nigel Slater recipe this weekend. It is taken from The Kitchen Diaries, one of my all time favourite recipe books. I substituted the salami that Nigel recommends for chorizo which I know is pretty naughty, but I just love chorizo and it added such a smoky punch that I forgave myself. I made steamed asparagus with melted butter and sea salt for starter, simply because the asparagus was on offer rather than due to any natural synergy between the light, summery starter and the warming, winter main. Still, the whole thing was pretty sublime. I do hope that Mr Slater won't mind my tinkering with his wonderful recipe.

  I served this with a small amount of rice, which wasn't actually needed, and buttered toast to scoop up the sauce.

  P.S It is my 100th blog post today, which I couldn't let pass without mention. I am greatly enjoying sharing this little journal with you. I hope you are too.

  
  

  Prep time:

  20 mins
  
  

  Cook time:

  45 mins

  
  
  
  
  
  
  2 onions
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 200g salami, in one piece (I USED CHORIZO)
• 350 g Sausages
• 500g crushed tomatoes, or tomato passata
• 150g green or brown lentils
• 3 bay leaves

Method

1. Peel the onions and cut each one in half from tip to root, then cut each half into four or five pieces. Warm the oil in a heavy-based casserole, add the onions and let them cook over a moderate heat until tender.

2. Meanwhile, peel the garlic, slice it thinly and add it to the onions. You'll need to stir them regularly.

3. Peel the thin skin from the salami and cut the inside into fat matchsticks. Add this to the softening onions and leave for a couple of minutes, during which time the salami will darken slightly.

4. Start cooking the sausages in a non-stick pan. You want them to colour on the outside; they will do most of their cooking once they are in the sauce.

5. Tip the crushed tomatoes into the onions, add the washed lentils and stir in 500ml water. Bring to the boil. Remove the sausages from their pan and tuck them into the casserole with the bay leaves.

6. Cover the pot with a lid and leave to simmer gently for about half an hour, until the lentils are tender. Stir the lentils and season with black pepper. You may find it needs little or no salt.

My mother's daughter

Day 1 of this blog and I have a real desire to get some old photos up which I have been meaning to return to for a while. These were taken on Boxing Day 07, a day of cold turkey and goats cheese sandwiches wedged full of cranberry sauce and dipped in bread sauce (a person preference I think). 

We had friends over and family staying and we played charades long into the evening, getting too merry on red wine (white in my case, more on that another time) and making sure Danny the dog was getting his fair share of leftovers. 

I must assure you this is normally a much more rustic and laid back meal than the pictures show. We wanted to get some pictures for the parents' B&B, so my Dad and I spent hours snapping away with our new cameras - and then the assembled mob promptly devoured. Just as it should be.

These meals, and the memories that they come hand in hand with, are what food and cookery are all about for me. The kitchen has been the hub of my home, and the warmth, tears, laughter and delight that have taken place there will be remembered only as the backdrop to a mouthwatering meal. That is thanks to my parents, in particular my mum who is a truly amazing cook 

After much nagging I have finally persuaded the mother to put pen to paper and make me a recipe book of her best dishes. These include spaghetti covered in the thickest,  richest tomato sauce with lamb and mint meatballs, a sharp but sweet carrot salad for a sunny day and my favourite creamy chicken pie with peas. Simple, much loved dishes which I will share with you over time.