Stranger Foods

Braised lentils with cheesy dumplings

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 1 hr

In my experience, there are few people who don’t like a dumpling. There’s something so deliciously comforting about them. Here they top a delicious lentil stew that’s bursting with veg, and is enriched at the table with crème fraîche. Perfect for a cold and blustery day.

Source: Foolproof Veggie One-Pot: 60 Vibrant and Easy-Going Vegetarian Dishes

Ingredients

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50 g unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) dice
2 sticks celery, cut into 5 mm (1/4 in) slices
1 small leek, trimmed and halved lengthways, then cut into 5 mm (1/4 in) slices
3 bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme
3 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 tbsp tomato purée
350 g dried puy lentils, rinsed
150 ml white wine
1 l hot vegetable stock
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
200 g crème fraîche, to serve
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dumplings

2 tbsp Marmite
200 g self-raising flour
100 g vegetable suet
75 g vegetarian Cheddar, coarsely grated

Instructions

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Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 6.
In a small bowl, dissolve the Marmite in 75 ml boiling water. Add 75 ml cold water. Set aside.
Melt the butter with the oil in your wide shallow pot over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, leek, bay leaves and thyme, along with a pinch of salt. Cook for or so, until the vegetables have reduced in volume and the onions and leeks have softened.
Meanwhile, prepare the dumplings. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and suet. Using your fingertips, rub the suet into the flour, reducing the size of the suet pieces slightly. Now mix in ½ tsp salt and a good grind of black pepper, along with the Cheddar. Pour in the diluted Marmite, then, using a metal spoon, gently mix the ingredients together until everything is incorporated and you have a sticky dough. Wet your hands and form 12 golf ball-sized dumplings. Set aside on a plate for later.
Returning to the pot, add the garlic and tomato purée to the vegetables and cook for . Add the lentils, wine, the stock and mustard, along with 2 tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper. Mix well and bring up to a simmer, then put on the lid and transfer to the oven for .
Remove from the oven, take off the lid and add the dumplings, placing evenly across the surface (they will sink very slightly). Cover again and cook for . Finally, remove the lid and cook for 10 more minutes to get a crust on the dumplings.
Top with roughly chopped parsley and serve with a bowl of crème fraîche at the table.

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