Cured Pork Belly With Lentils
Pork belly with lentils is a typical French bistro dish. In principal, it is a mixture of different cuts of pork, usually salt-cured, cooked slowly until "confit" and meltingly tender, served with lentils cooked in stock.
This dish takes a good while to prepare, but it's a real treat! It reheats very well, tasting better each time, so do make plenty in one go.
This dish takes a good while to prepare, but it's a real treat! It reheats very well, tasting better each time, so do make plenty in one go.
109 K 4.0/5 (42 reviews)
3 hours 20 min.
Average
10 people
13 IngredientsLast modified on: November 15th 2015
For 10 people, you will need:
- 1
1 onion - 2
2 carrots - 3
1 garlic clove - 4
1 bouquet garni - 5
500 ml belly (streaky) bacon - 6
1 litre 500 ml pork shoulder - 7
1 Morteau sausage - 8
1 litre 500 ml knuckle of pork - 9
580 mls green lentils - 10
3 tablespoons lard - 11
2 glasses dry white wine - 12
salt - 13
pepper
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 20 min.
Cooking: 3 hours
All in all: 3 hours 20 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
Prepare the flavourings for the stock:
chop 1 onion, peel 2 carrots and slice into rounds, lightly crush 1 garlic clove.
chop 1 onion, peel 2 carrots and slice into rounds, lightly crush 1 garlic clove.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
For the meat, choose fully cured or lightly salted cuts of pork. The ones you see here are: 500 ml belly (streaky) bacon, 1 litre 500 ml pork shoulder, 1 Morteau sausage, 1 litre 500 ml knuckle of pork.
Lightly salted meat only needs to be rinsed. More heavily salted meat should be soaked for 2 hours in cold water, with the water changed twice during that time.
The sausage can be used as it is.
Lightly salted meat only needs to be rinsed. More heavily salted meat should be soaked for 2 hours in cold water, with the water changed twice during that time.
The sausage can be used as it is.
Stage 3 - 2 min.
Put into a large cooking pot: all the meat, onion, carrots, garlic, bouquet garni and a little salt and pepper. Cover with cold water.
Stage 4 - 2 hours
Bring to the boil on high heat, skim off the froth that forms, then leave to cook gently for 2 to 3 hours.
Stage 5
After this, when you take the meat out, you will see that it has become a melt-in-the-mouth "confit".
Stage 6 - 5 min.
Stage 7 - 2 min.
Rinse 580 mls green lentils under cold running water in a strainer.
Stage 8 - 5 min.
Take out a good mugful of the meat stock and save for later. Discard the bouquet garni and the garlic, rescue the carrots and set them to one side, then bring the stock back to the boil.
Stage 9 - 20 min.
Tip in the lentils and leave to cook until they are just tender, but still fairly firm (they will finish cooking later with the meat).
Drain the lentils, but save the stock they were cooked in.
Drain the lentils, but save the stock they were cooked in.
Stage 10 - 5 min.
In the big cooking pot, melt 3 tablespoons lard on high heat.
Fry the meat for 2 or 3 minutes until browned all over.
Pour in 2 glasses dry white wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Fry the meat for 2 or 3 minutes until browned all over.
Pour in 2 glasses dry white wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Stage 11 - 30 min.
Add the lentils, the mugful of stock you saved earlier, and the carrots, then mix.
Cover and leave to simmer gently for about 30 minutes (or longer), but take care not to let the pork belly dry out or stick. If necessary, moisten with a ladleful or more of stock.
Cover and leave to simmer gently for about 30 minutes (or longer), but take care not to let the pork belly dry out or stick. If necessary, moisten with a ladleful or more of stock.
Stage 12
Serve piping hot.
Remarks
If you don't have any Morteau sausage, use any other sausage you like.
There are some, me among them, who like to serve pork belly with a trickle of vinegar.
As I say above, the pork is is even better when reheated but, unfortunately, the lentils turn mushy when overcooked and become less and less presentable.
Keep the remaining stock, with it you can make a tasty 'day after pork belly' soup.
There are some, me among them, who like to serve pork belly with a trickle of vinegar.
As I say above, the pork is is even better when reheated but, unfortunately, the lentils turn mushy when overcooked and become less and less presentable.
Keep the remaining stock, with it you can make a tasty 'day after pork belly' soup.
And to drink?
A red wine from Burdondy for example, possibly a Ladoix "Sur les vris" from Christian Perrin, it is just perfect.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, covered with plastic film.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 740 RDI=280 % | 270 RDI=30 % | 1,140 RDI=170 % | 14,290 RDI=720 % | 59,830 RDI: 720 % |
| Per 100 g | 10 RDI=6 % | 5 RDI=0 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 280 RDI=10 % | 1,170 RDI: 10 % |
| Per person | 70 RDI=30 % | 30 RDI=3 % | 110 RDI=20 % | 1,430 RDI=70 % | 5,980 RDI: 70 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 10 people : 29.60 €
- Per person : 3.00 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Pork shoulder
Like these other recipes: Express sauerkraut, ... See them all 1
Belly (streaky) bacon
Like these other recipes: Surf and turf club sandwich, Larded pork tenderloin, Chicken club sandwich, Bacon and cabbage omelette, Confit of carrots with bacon, ... See them all 31
Green lentils
Like these other recipes: Sausage and lentils "en cocotte", Warm lentil salad, Cajun-style lentil salad, Lentil and cold-meat salad, ... See them all 4
Other recipes you may also like
Caramelised apple pie
Apple pie made with caramelised apples. September 11th 2018267 K4.3 1 hour 55 min.
Exotic fruit tart
An exotic fruit tart (bananas, kiwi and pineapple), with crisp pastry and almond cream which are cooked beforehand. It's a rather simple recipe, but the final result will impress your guests. May 27th 2020331 K5 2 hours 25 min.
Belle-helene in a glass
It's a recipe where you make 4 layers of different creams in a small glass: vanilla cream, small dice of pear cooked in maple syrup, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. It should be served to your guests cool but not too cold . February 21th 2011266 K3.8 1 hour 50 min.
European glass
A little dessert that's rather long to make, but which will always impress your guests. Layered in a glass: a jellied red fruit coulis, a layer of pineapple charlotte cream, a layer of kiwi coulis, topped with a peeled clementine segment. It's "european" because it resembles the italian flag, and in another version with apricot instead raspberries, the irish flag (a country so dear to me). August 15th 2010239 K5 2 hours 30 min.
Almond cream
Light and delicious, it is used in a lot of desserts like tarts, cakes and pies (epiphany galette). August 31th 2025472 K 25 20 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-09-14)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.