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Lentils Bourgeoise
One of the simplest ways of preparing lentils is to cook them in boiling salted water until tender. They should be cooked gently for a long time and served hot with melted shortening and grated cheese. For those who like fried onion, the onion may either be substituted for the cheese, or added with it.
A bare-bones formula that assumes you know your lentils. The two things it leaves out are quantity and cooking time, both of which depend on which lentil you buy.
- Timing"Cooked gently for a long time" reflects older, drier stock. Modern brown or green lentils are tender in 25-35 minutes at a bare simmer; French green (Puy) lentils take about 30-40 and hold their shape. Red and yellow split lentils collapse in 15-20 minutes and are the wrong choice here.
- No soaking neededUnlike dried beans, lentils do not require soaking. Rinse them and pick out any grit or split stones before they go in the pot.
- ShorteningIn a book of this vintage "melted shortening" means any solid fat on hand -- vegetable shortening, margarine, or butter. Butter or good olive oil gives the best result; hydrogenated shortening contributes nothing but slickness.
- Salted waterSalt from the start is fine and seasons the interior of the lentil. The old warning that salt toughens pulses applies to hard-skinned beans far more than to lentils.
- Cheese"Grated cheese" here probably means a dry aged grating cheese -- Parmesan, Pecorino, or a sharp aged cheddar. It is best added off the heat so it softens rather than seizes into strands.
- The onionIf you take the fried-onion option, cook the sliced onion slowly in the fat until deep brown and sweet, 20 minutes or more, and pour it over with the fat. Rushed pale onion adds moisture without flavour.
- Quantity and yieldThe original gives none. Reckon 1/2 cup dry lentils per person, covered by about three times their volume of water; 1 1/2 cups dry serves three as a main course.
- DrainingCook with enough water to keep them covered, then drain loosely -- a little of the cooking liquid clinging to the lentils keeps the dish from being dry, and the fat and cheese will bind it.