Crushed puy lentils with tahini and cumin

Stop. Start. But, start with a tradition: a lentil dish on the menu for the first post of the year. Of course it had to be a Yotam Ottolengi’s .  Quick, easy and totally delicious, this is a hearty dish that will warm you to the soul in a cold winter day.

Crushed puy lentils with tahini and cumin (adapted from Yotam Ottolengi’s column in The Guardian)

Ingredients

• 200g puy lentils
• 30g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 3 medium tomatoes,  cut into 1cm dice
• 25g coriander leaves, chopped
• 4 tbsp tahini paste
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt and black pepper
• ½ small red onion, peeled and sliced very thin
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

Cook the lentils according to the instructions on the packet,until completely cooked. Then drain and set aside.

Put the butter and oil in a large frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. Once the butter melts, add the garlic and cumin, and cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes, 20g of coriander and the cooked lentils. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes,

Add the tahini, lemon juice, 70ml of water, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Turn down the heat to medium and cook gently, stirring, for a few minutes more, until hot and thickened. Roughly mash the lentils with a potato masher, so that some are broken up and you get a thick, porridge consistency. Serve warm with the hard-boiled eggs alongside.