Lentils Braised with Rosemary and Garlic

If you know of an amazing dish based on green lentils, we'd love to hear about it. Almost everything we've cooked with green lentils or had at a restaurant, including soups and dahls, has been "OK" at best (the lemon and mint dahl being the only exception that comes to mind).

These braised lentils from Jamie Oliver are decent - about as good as lentils can be maybe - but only good enough for a side dish (he recommends serving them with "squab or grilled venison").

Preheat the oven to 300F/150C. Rinse the lentils, but don't soak them. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in an oven-proof pan that has a lid. Fry diced pancetta for a bit, then fry rosemary, onion, and garlic for a couple minutes, then mix in the lentils to coat them with oil and heat them thoroughly. After a minute, pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover, and cook in the oven for 1 hour. (For once the oven time in a printed recipe was spot on!) Once the lentils are out of the oven, mix into them extra-virgin olive oil and the vinegar and maybe salt with pepper, to taste.

The following amount will serve 6, at least:

- 2 oz pancetta or bacon
- 1.5 cups / 3.5 dl green/Puy lentils
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3-5 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 red onion or 2-3 shallots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 cups / 7 dl chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 0.5 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- salt & pepper