Sausage and lentils "en cocotte"

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 300 g green lentils
• 2 1 bayleaf
• 3 1 carrot
• 4 1 shallot
• 5 1 Morteau sausage
• 6 750 g water
• 7 salt
• Total weight: 1,606 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
15 min.	50 min.	1 hour 5 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Rinse 300 g green lentils under running water (you can use other types of lentils, of course). Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C).
2	Prepare the flavouring ingredients: Peel 1 carrot and cut into large chunks. Peel 1 shallot and cut in half.
3	Use an oven-proof terrine or casserole dish. Tip in the lentils after rinsing and draining. Push the pieces of carrot, shallot and the bayleaf into the lentils.
4	Lay 1 Morteau sausage on the top, after pricking all over with a small, sharp knife.
5	Pour in 750 g water and salt lightly (the sausage with also add salt to the dish).
6	If you wish, you can seal around the lid, but this is not absolutely necessary.
7	Cover and cook in the oven for about 50 minutes. Try the lentils to check that they are cooked: they should be just tender, but still offer a little resistance, and there should be little or no liquid left in the bottom of the dish.
8	Serve either at the table, straight from the dish, or plated up, with the sausage cut into thick slices.

Remarks

It is important to get the proportion of water to lentils right, otherwise they will be either too dry or too soggy. The ideal amount for this cooking method is 2.5 times as much water as lentils.
Of course, you don't have to use Morteau sausage ("Oh, really?!" folks from the Franc-Comtois region might say...), any other good smoked sausage will do.
For an even tastier dish, you can use vegetable stock instead of plain water.

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