Braised lentils with risoni
Braised lentils with risoni is a meal my daughter absolutely loves since she was younger! The lentil soup is one of her favourites as well. The braised lentils with risoni however, is more sought out and I think the addition of the pasta might be the reason 🙂 Just like the very popular risoni with mince recipe.
Sweet and spiced
The grated carrot as well as the tomato added, gives the braised lentils with risoni a sweeter taste. If you add fresh ripe tomatoes it might be even more so. As far as the aromatics go, the spices added give it a subtle Middle Eastern flavour and the chopped parsley with lemon add to its freshness.
A good source of iron
The braised lentils with risoni meal provides the whole family with a reliable source of iron. However, lentils are a good source of iron only if you avoid eating yoghurt with it! Being of a Greek background yoghurt is on the dinner table most of the times, especially with lentils. It’s just something we always used to do growing up. I personally stopped doing so recently, after I was told by our nutritionist friend to. The reason being that the calcium from the yoghurt actually prevents the iron from the lentils to be reabsorbed in your body.
In saying so, instead of yoghurt, better alternatives to accompany the braised lentils with risoni are:
1.Pickled vegetables.
2. Lemon juice (or vinegar), which is already added in this lentil recipe.
3. A glass of fresh orange juice, for the kids especially would be very helpful.
4. A salad that contains tomatoes and capsicum.
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- 500 g green lentils
- warm water
- 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic, minced or thinly sliced
- 1 medium brown onion, chopped
- 1 tbs tomato paste
- ½ tbs ground cumin
- ½ tsb ground coriander
- 1 cup passata or 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 800-1000 mL warm water
- 1 large carrot, grated or diced
- 1 large celery stick, chopped
- 1/3 cup risoni/orzo pasta
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ tsp salt, or as required
- ¼ tsp pepper, or as required
- ¼ cup lemon juice, or as required
- 10 fresh parsley sprigs, chopped or as required
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Place the lentils on a tray and go through them to ensure there are no pebbles or inconsitent before boiling them. Bring 2L of warm water to boil and then add the lentils to cook for 7min. After that time strain the lentils well and repeat the boiling again for another 7min. Boiling them twice removes their grittiness completely. You can recycle the water used to boil them, once it has cooled down, to water your plants. After boiling the lentils for the second time, strain them and set aside.
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Use the extra virgin olive oil to cook the garlic and onion until it softens. Add the tomato paste, ground coriander and cumin, stirring for 2min or until it becomes aromatic.
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Pour the passata or diced tomato can, the 1L of water, carrots, celery, semi cooked lentils, risoni pasta, salt, pepper and the bay leaves. If you wish for the lentils to have a thicker consistency then add less water.
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Bring the food to a boil then simmer for 15min or until all the ingredients are cooked well.
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Cover the pot and allow it to cool off the heat for at least 10-15 minutes before serving. Pour in the lemon juice and stir in the chopped parsley. Read above for some suitable sides.
Loved trying this recipe. I used green lentils instead of brown as that is what I had available but it was still aunthentically and beautifully Cypriot which all of her dishes tend to me. Love and family at the heart of this dish. Easy to follow and have shared with other members of my family to try this version or a family classic. My husband said he preferred to the original!
Thank you very much Alex! That’s a huge compliment 🙂