2 cups lentils
1 lb/½ kg ground/minced beef
1 packet onion soup mix
½ cup cooking oil
1 cup tomato ketchup
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. vinegar
1 cup water

Wash, clean, soak and cook the lentils. Brown the beef in the oil, stir in the rest of the ingredients. Bake for ½ hour at 400°F. Freezes well. Good for barbecues.

Serves 8

1 good rabbit (about 1½ lbs/600 g)
4 oz/100 g green streaky bacon or pickled pork in one piece
1 oz/25 g ham fat, butter or dripping
6 medium onions, quartered
scant 1 oz/25 g flour
1-1½ pints/600-900 ml stock
salt, freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. french mustard
bouquet garni*
2½ fl oz/50 ml cream
2 tbsp. chopped parsley

Lentil Purée:
1½ cup brown lentils
1 onion stuck with a clove
1 carrot, cut in thick rounds
3-4 tbsp. good stock
2 oz/50 g butter
bouquet garni*

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

Tie in muslin or two thicknesses of cheesecloth

Joint the rabbit and soak overnight in salted water wih a little vinegar in it. Drain, rinse and dry the pieces well. Remove rind from the bacon, cut it into large dice and blanch. Drain and set aside. Heat the fat in a heavy stewpan, lightly brown the pieces of rabbit, remove them. Add the bacon and onions to the pan and fry, shaking and stirring occasionally until nicely colored. Remove from heat, while blending in the flour and stock, then return and stir until boiling. Add the pieces of rabbit with the herbs, a little salt, pepper and the mustard. Cover pan tightly and simmer for about an hour until the rabbit is very tender. Put the rabbit in the serving dish, remove the bouquet garni, reduce the sauce if necessary over a high heat. Add cream and parsley, and spoon over the rabbit. Serve with a lentil purée, separately. Wash the lentils and soak in tepid water for 2 hours. Put in a pan, cover with plenty of water, add salt, the onion, and the herbs and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer until the lentils can be crushed between the fingers and thumb. Sieve or liquidize. Return to the rinsed-out pan and stir briskly over the heat. Add the stock to lighten the purée, remove from heat, and beat in the butter and a little pepper.

½ lb/200 g streaky bacon
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
2 medium potatoes, diced
3 stalks celery, chopped
½ oz/15 g margarine
4 oz/100 g lentils
1 level tsp. salt
pepper
2 level tsp. cornflour

Preheat oven (375°F, 190°C, gas 5). Remove rind from bacon and cut into 1-inch pieces. Peel carrots, onion and potatoes, slice carrots, celery and onion; dice potatoes. Melt margarine and fry the vegetables and bacon for 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils, 1 pint/500 ml water, salt and a shake of pepper. Bring to boil then place in a casserole. Cover and cook in the center of the oven for 1 hour until the lentils are cooked. Blend cornflour with 1 tbsp. of water and stir into the lentil mixture. Return casserole to the oven for 5 minutes.

Serves 4

2 cups lentils
2 onions, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
bouquet garni (optional)
1 lb/½ kg pork sausage meat

Soak lentils, then simmer until tender with onions, salt and pepper, and a bouquet garni (if desired) for about 3 hours.
From patties of the sausage meat and fry in a skillet untill partly done (about 10 minutes). Drain on absorbent paper.
Drain the lentils, reserving the liquor. Remove the bouquet garni, if used. Place  the lentils in a shallow casserole, pour over them enough of the cooking liquor to just cover the lentils. Arrange the sausage patties on top and bake in a
350°F oven until thoroughly hot (15-20 minutes).

Serves 8

A lentil recipe of Imperial Rome from Apicius (the world's surviving cookbook).

Take a clean pot, put in the lentils, and cook them. In a mortar, pound some pepper, cumin, coriander seeds, mint, rue and pennyroyal. Moisten with vinegar, add some honey, liquamen* and boiled must. Mix all with the vinegar then pour into the pot. Mince the boiled mussels, add and bring to the boil. When boiling well, allow to reduce. Add green oil in the serving dish.

* Liquamen: a powder made from the entrails of fish, dried for several months. There was also a liquid version made by boiling fish in brine.

Modern adaptation:

Put lentils to soak with ample water; after several hours bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Combine freshly ground black pepper with ground cumin and coriander seeds, a minced mint leaf and a pinch of thyme; moisten with vinegar, add honey, soy sauce and wine, or grape juice (condensed by boiling) then add to lentils. When lentils are tender, mince and add boiled mussels or canned minced clams, cook, stirring the lentils until the liquid is reduced, or thicken with a paste of flour and water. Transfer to a heated serving dish and pour a little olive over the lentils/mussel mixture.

1 cup lentils
2 cans shrimp, drained
1 can asparagus spears, drained
½ tsp. onion salt
2 cans cream of chicken soup

Clean, cook and drain lentils. Combine with 1 can of shrimp, salt and chicken soup. Spread half of the mixture in a well-oiled glass baking dish. Top with asparagus and the rest of the lentil mixture. Garnish with the second can of shrimp. Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.

½ lb/200 g brown lentils
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 small can anchovy fillets
2 garlic cloves
3 oz/75 g butter
salt hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Soak the lentils in cold water for 1-2 hours. Clean, put in a saucepan with the chopped onion, cover with fresh cold water. Bring to boil and simmer until the lentils are tender but not too soft. Drain. Meanwhile drain the oil from the anchovies and mash to a pulp with a wooden spoon. Melt 1 oz/25 g butter over low heat in a fire-proof dish, stir in the lentils and onion mixture, and the crushed garlic cloves. When the lentils have heated through, stir in the anchovies. Cook gently for a few minutes, stirring in the rest of the butter little by little. Season to taste. Serve with hard-boiled eggs and or a green salad and black pepper.

To reheat, add a little more butter, cover dish and put in oven (gas 3, 325°F, 150°C) for half an hour.

Serves 4

1 cup lentils
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup sour cream
1 can tuna, flaked
¼ tsp. onion salt
pepper
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Cook and drain the lentils; mix with the other ingredients. Garnish with the hard-boiling eggs. Bake at 350°C until heated through.


Serves 4

1 cup lentils
8 oz/200 g frozen mixed vegetables
1 packet onion soup mix
2½ cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 can (7oz/175 g) tuna, drained

Clean, soak and cook the lentils, drain. Combine the vegetables, soup mix, water and salt in large frying pan with a lid. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the lentils and tuna and cook, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes.

Serves 6.

1 cup lentils
1 can crab, rinsed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup evaporated milk
½ cup celery, finely chopped
½ cup onion, finely chopped
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped


Topping:
butter, melted
breadcrumbs

Cook the lentils, drain and cool. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and put into a casserole. Top with breadcrumbs that have been soaked in melted butter. Bake at 375°C for about 35 minutes until the topping has browned slightly and the casserole is bubbling.

Serves 5-6

Continue