Aunty May’s Lentils and Sausages

In these hard times as we watch our economy disappearing down the drain, I am reminded of many years ago when my husband and I bought our first house. We were so poor the first year that we lived on lentils and carrots. For about five years after our finances got better, I couldn't face the thought of cooking lentils but now I really like them again. This is a simple, and very cheap supper dish.

You need 50-75g / 2-3 oz of lentils per person.
And some kind of pre-cooked, preferably smoked sausages. I like the Regensburger Wurst from the butcher at the Heidelberg market in the Altstadt or Neuenheim but Polish smoked sausage are good, or if you can get them Swiss Saucisse de Vaud are best of all.

Fry a small onion per person plus a clove or two of garlic in your favorite vegetable oil (I like olive oil best) until the onion is softened, 5-10 minutes. Then add the lentils and fry for another minute or two. Add a little bit of chili if you like. But no salt until the lentils are cooked, otherwise they will stay hard and tough. Add water to cover and cook until the lentils are about 10-15 minutes away from being cooked. (Read the instructions on the package, depending on the type of lentil, it can take from 30 minutes to an hour to cook them.)

10-15 minutes from the end of cooking time, add sausages to the lentils and continue cooking for about 10 minutes until the sausages are hot. If you miss the 10-minutes-from-the-end slot, just turn the heat off under the lentils and boil the sausages in water; this is not quite as good but it's not a disaster.

Drain all the water off the lentils and add salt to taste plus a couple of teaspoons or more of lemon or lime juice, and some sour or regular cream if you like to moisten the lentils. Or some more olive oil. Taste, and then decide! Trust your tastebuds. A tomato or two finely chopped but not cooked is also nice. Don't cook the lentils in tomatoes though, just add them at the end if you want.

You need to serve a green salad with this filling dish and mashed potatoes or baked potatoes are also good accompaniments.