Pasta with Braised Lentils



Ingredients

1 cup brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2-2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp olive oil (or as needed)
Basil, oregano, paprika, and marjoram to taste (approx. 1 tsp apiece)
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup red wine
1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, or to taste
Short pasta (such as farfalle, rigatoni, penne, etc)



Preparation

After sorting and rinsing the lentils, place the lentils in a large, shallow pan (like a large sauce pan or a chef’s pan), along with several cups of water, the black pepper, and the red wine.
Place over medium-high heat until the lentils have reached a low boil.
At this point, lentils should be bouncing in the boiling water; now place a lid on the pan, and reduce heat.
Cook for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are al dente.
Use a colander to drain the lentils, collecting the lentil water in your pasta pot, and run cold water over the lentils to halt the cooking process.
Add water to the lentil water in your pasta pot to make enough water for cooking your pasta.
It is helpful to put up the pasta water now, so that when you prepare the pasta in a later stage the water is already heated.
Wipe out the chef’s pan that you used for preparing the lentils with a wet paper towel (caution, the pan will be very hot still) and add the olive oil.
Place the pan over medium heat and add the herbs and spices (other than the black pepper); once the oil is heated, add the onion, red pepper, and garlic.
Sauté until the onions are translucent.
Add the lentils back into the chef pan, then add the butter and the balsamic vinegar.
Stir to combine, over low heat, and add the pasta to the pasta water started earlier.
Cover the lentils, keeping the heat low, and check regularly.
The butter should melt and combine with the other ingredients, but the lentils should mostly just be kept warm at this stage.
Once the pasta is ready, serve with a hard grating cheese.



Notes

Serves 3-4. Pairs well with red wines, and if you need to open a bottle to prepare this, you can serve it with the wine you just opened to cook. Also a good way to use up wine that’s been open a bit too long.