Served across Italy for New Year's eve, cotechino and lentils is a very humble yet super tasty dish that is believed to bring good luck to those who eat it in the year to come.
My (not yet) mother-in-law prepares lentils in a super way and she's been generous enough to share her recipe.
ingredients for 6 people:
400g lentils
0.5l vegetable broth
2 onions
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
200g chopped tomatoes
2 pieces of kombu
some sage leaves
EVO oil
preparation:
Rinse the lentils and soak in bowl with clean cold water for 12-24hours with a piece of kombu. The next day, chop the vegetables and soft brown in a deep pan with some EVO oil (3 tbsp would do). Rinse again the lentils and remove the combo, add them to the pan and stir. After few minutes, add the chopped tomatoes and sage leaves, stir again. After few more minutes, pour the broth and immerse a new dry piece of kombu (important to remove before serving).
Cook at very low heat for 30-40 minutes and stir occasionally.
Salt the lentils at the end of cooking rather than at the beginning to prevent hard lentils.
In parallel, prepare the cotechino following packaging instruction. We used a pre-cooked one, as it's quicker to cook (only 30min) without compromising on quality.
During NYE dinner, we opened a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Nature 2006. It's a stunning wine and a superb pairing yet contrast to such a humble dish.
