1 cup lentils
1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. grated onion
½ tsp. salt

Garnish: chopped almonds

Clean, cool, rinse, and drain the lentils. Mix with all the other ingredients. Place in casserole dish and top with chopped almonds. Bake at 350°F for ½ hour.


Serves 4-5

1 cup lentils
1 cup prunes
¼ cup sherry
1 tsp. salt
lemon juice (optional)
spices (optional)

Wash and cook the lentils. Stew the prunes, pit and mash them. Add them to the cooked lentils with the sherry, salt, lemon juice and spices (if desired). Cook over low heat until thoroughly heated.

1 medium onion
1½ oz/40 g butter
1 large garlic clove
1 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. chilli powder
¼ tsp. ground turmeric
½ lb/200 g brown lentils
sea salt

Chop the onion and cook it gently in butter in a saute pan. Add crushed garlic and spices, then the washed and drained lentils which have been carefully picked over. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then pour on 1½ pints/750 ml of hot water and cover the pan. Simmer for about 35 minutes, until the lentils are soft and the water is absorbed. Add salt to taste and more spices if needed. Serve with hot hard-boiled eggs and grilled rashers of bacon.

Serves 3-4

1 cup cooked lentils
1 cup cooked soybeans
2 cups whole wheat flour or soy bread crumbs
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 cups milk or 1 cup milk + 1 cup
tomato soup
1 tbsp. vegetable broth or
1 tsp. poultry seasoning

Mix all ingredients together, pack into a greased loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven for 30-40 minutes. Serve with brown gravy or tomato sauce.

Serves 6

Forcemeat:
1 oz/25 g lentils
1 oz/25 g breadcrumbs
grated rind of ½ lemon
1 tsp. chopped parsley
pepper and salt
1 egg

4 eggs, hard-boiled
breadcrumbs
½ pint/300 ml thick brown gravy

Soak the lentils overnight. Cook in boiling salted water until tender. Strain and sieve or liquidize. Mix in other ingredients. Beat the raw egg and bind the lentil forcemeat with half of it. Shell the hard-boiled eggs and case them thickly with the forcemeat. Coat with the other half of the beaten raw egg and the breadcrumbs, fry in smoking-hot fat.
Serve hot with gravy or cold with salad.


Serves 4

12 oz/1½ cups lentils
salt and pepper
bouquet garni*
3 oz/75 g margarine
2 large onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small dessert apple, peeled and diced
a few sticks celery, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped


* Bouquet garni:
1 sprig parsley
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
1 sprig marjoram


Tie in muslin or two thickness of cheesecloth.

Put lentils into a pan with only enoughcold water to cover. Add salt, pepper and herbs. If possible soak for 1-2 hours. Simmer for 1¼ hours until the water has evaporated and the lentils are tender. Remove the bouquet garni. Meanwhile fry the onions and garlic in 2 oz/50 g margarine until tender. Add to the warm lentil mixture in the pan, with the apple, celery and pepper. Season well. Grease a medium baking dish with half the remaining margarine. Put in the lentil mixture and top with the remaining margarine. For a crisp topping, do not cover. Bake 1 hour in the center of a moderate oven (350-375°F, gas 4-5). Turn out. Serve with roast potatoes.


Variations:
For a crisp-coated roast, coat the sides of the baking dish and top the lentil mixture with a thick layer of crumbs.

Add a little curry powder and chopped herbs to flavour or 2-3 skinned tomatoes and a pinch of chilli powder. Add the tomatoes to the onions, then blend with the cooked lentils.

¾ lb/350 g brown lentils
4 tbsp. butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
salt and black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
juice ½ lemon (optional)

Clean and wash lentils. If possible soak for a few hours and drain well. In a large saucepan fry the onion and garlic in 2 tbsp. melted butter until the onion is soft and golden. Add the lentils and stir with the butter in the pan for a minute or two. Pour in about ½ pint/250 ml of water, bring to boil and remove skin. Season with salt, pepper, and ground cumin. Cover the pan and simmer until the lentils are tender but not too soft, adding more water when necessary. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining butter until melted and lemon juice.

Good with poached eggs, omelettes, spicy fried sausages or any lean meat dish, or with aubergine slices and boiled rishta (noodles).

Variation: Substitute 1 bay leaf and a pinch of dried thyme for the ground cumin and lemon juice.

1 lb/½ kg lentils
1 lb/½ kg mashed potatoes
white of 1 egg
1 fried chopped onion
pepper and salt
parsley, finely chopped

Soak lentils. Cook in a little water until tender. Add other ingredients to lentils and mix well together. Roll in flour and form into rissoles or sausages. Coat with white of egg and fry until a golden brown color.

¼ medium cauliflower
½ swede (turnip), diced
2 large carrots, diced
¼ lb/100 g lentils
¼ lb/100 g shelled peas
2-3 oz/50-75 g butter
2 medium onions. sliced
¾ lb/350 g mushrooms, chopped
1 courgette, sliced
1 aubergine, sliced
mixed herbs and seasoning
¼ pint/150 ml single cream
1 egg
¾ lb/350 g short-crust pastry

Divide the cauliflower into small florets and boil with the swede, carrots and lentils in salted water for 15-20 minutes,  adding peas 3 minutes before the end. Drain and set aside. Melt some of the butter in a frying pan and fry the remaining vegetables. Add the rest of the butter to the pan, as necessary. Stir the mixed herbs, cream and beaten egg (reserving a little of the latter to brush over the pastry) in with the mixed boiled and fried vegetables.
Roll out pastry and divide into four squares, spoon vegetable mixture onto each square. Dampen the edges with a little water, fold over and press firmly together. Prick with a fork, brush with the egg and place on the top shelf of a moderate oven for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is cooked.

1 cup lentils
½ cup barley
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. oil
1 small onion, sliced

Soak lentils and barley separately overnight. Put barley to cook in salted water to cover. After ½ hour add lentils and cook together for another hour. Fry the onion in oil and add to the lentil barley mixture just before serving.

Serves 4

1 cup lentils
salt and pepper (cayenne or red pepper pod)
1 tbsp. oil
2 large onions, sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup rice
2 cups stock

Soak, then simmer the lentils until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Fry onion in oil until soft but not brown. Add tomato, rice and stock. Cover tightly and simmer until rice is tender. Fold in drained lentils, correct seasoning.

Serves 6

½ cup lentils
2 tbsp. cooking oil
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 cup croutons or breadcrumbs
1 cup sieved, canned tomatoes
¼ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. dried sage

Clean, soak and cook lentils. Fry onion in the oil until transparent. Remove from heat and mix in the rest of the ingredients including the rice. Pour into a casserole and bake at 350°F for 35 minutes. Serve with gravy or any flavor of heated, undiluted cream soup.

Variation: The brown rice and the tomatoes can be replaced by an additional ½ cup of lentils, 1 small can of evaporated milk and ½ cup of finely chopped nuts.

½ cup lentils
butter
1 cup cooked, diced potatoes
onion salt

Cook the lentils, drain. Fry in butter with the diced potatoes. Season with onion salt. Serve with chilli sauce.

Good accompaniment for roast beef or sausages.

½-¾ lb/225-350 g lentils
salt
oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. ground coriander
½ cup spanish peanuts, chopped filberts or hazelnuts (optional)
black pepper
¾ lb 350 g rishta noodles or tagliatelle
2 tbsp. butter

Cook lentils in about 1 pint/500 ml salted water until the lentils are soft and the water is absorbed. Drain. Fry the onions in 2 tbsp. oil until soft and golden. Add  the garlic and coriander. Fry for another 2 minutes, until golden. Add mixture to cooked lentils, season to taste. Cook noodles in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain well and mix with lentils. Stir in butter and mix well.

1 lb/450 g plain flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp. salt
4-5 tbsp. water

Sift flour onto a large board, make a well in the center to hold the beaten eggs, salt and 4 tbsp. water. Mix well and knead thoroughly until ingredients are well blended. Add the remaining tablespoon of water if necessary. The dough should be firm. Work it for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic (sprinkle a little flour over the board with your hands to prevent the dough from sticking). Divide dough into 2 or 3 pieces. Roll each piece as thinly as possible, working from the center. Flour occasionally to prevent sticking. Let the sheets rest and dry out for 40 minutes. Roll up each sheet like a swiss roll; cut into thin slices. Spread on floured cloth and leave to rest. Simmer in boiling water for about 5 minutes, stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

A great favorite throughout the Middle East from medieval times. Also known (probably mistakenly) as Esau's dish of lentils.

2 cups whole brown lentils
4 tbsp. oil
1 onion, chopped finely
salt and pepper
1 cup rice
2 onions, sliced

Boil lentils until tender. Fry chopped onion in 2 tbsp. oil until soft and golden. Add to lentils with salt and pepper to taste. Add rice and water to make the liquid in the pan up to 2 cups, mix well. Season again, then simmer covered for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked; add more water if necessary. Serve on a shallow dish garnished with sliced onions fried in 2 tbsp. very hot oil until crisp, dark brown and almost caramelized. Serve hot or cold. Good with yoghurt.

Variation: Burghul (cracked wheat) can be used in place of rice.

Serves 10

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