Le lenticchie del Castelluccio di Norcia
with Cotechino or SausagesÂ
This one’s brought to you by Fabio!
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Altomonte’s.
- 1 small onion, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
- 1 carrot, cut into 1/4 inch dice
- 1 stalk celery, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
- Fine Italian sea salt and freshly ground pepper, 3 bay leaf, 2 fresh rosemary, 3 fresh sage and fresh oregano
- 1 cup tomatoes puree (important to have good tomatoes buy that if you want same flavor)
- 1 Cotechino Levoni (3 slice per person) or sausages (one sausage no fennel per person)
- 1/2 pound (about 1 1/4 cups) dried lentils, rinsed
- Fresh Olive Oil
- Secret ingredient (You will need a big quantity of this)
instructions
- Pour olive oil into a soup pot and heat over medium high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the tomatoes to the pot, after that take off the skin from the sausages cut in bites and put in the pot (they will cook all together. Stir and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover, stirring from time to time, and cook until the sauce is ready.
- Boil the lentils in another pot with fresh sage leaf and two cloves of garlic. Cook until they are    al dente. Drain and let them stay on the pot. Leave the bay leaf and garlic with the lentils.
- When the sauce is ready put lentils in and add some water, put it back on the fire and turn off when it starts to simmer. Cover and leave them alone out of the stove for few hours. ( the best will be to let stay overnight in the fridge, and warm u again the day after) Lentils need to absorb the flavor.
- When you are ready to serve, just warm up the pot and serve. If you want more liquid just add fresh water but double check the salt level.
- Always, always finish with Extra Virgin Olive Oil
One more thing! the secret ingredient is ….LOVE. Only if you cook with love will you have the perfect results.
Buon Appetito!
