I always keep Puy lentils in the cupboard and much prefer them for salads than green or brown lentils which I use for cooked lentil recipes like vegetarian shepherd’s pie.

Puy lentils go very well with anchovies and toasted pine nuts and I’ve just added some hard boiled eggs in this recipe for a more substantial vegetarian meal.

I’ve given the quantities of the ingredients here but there’s no need to be too precise – it depends what you have in stock – I had 172g of Puy lentils left in the packet so decided to use them all.

This recipe serves two people for a main meal or around four if you’re serving other food or additional courses.

Ingredients

• 172g Puy lentils
• 60g pine nuts
• 2 x hard boiled eggs
• Tin of anchovies
• Mix of salad leaves – such as watercress, spinach and rocket
• Salad dressing – 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon red/white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, black pepper

Method

1. Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Be careful not to over cook the lentils – they should remain whole and al dente (not soft and mushy).
2. Mix up the salad dressing – I usually use an old mustard jar to shake up the dressing.
3. Drain the lentils and pour over half the dressing while the lentils are still warm and mix well.
4. Arrange the lentils on the bed of salad leaves and pile on the anchovies and boiled eggs (cut in half).
5. Toast the pine nuts for a few minutes in a dry frying pan and arrange on the salad.
6. Pour over the remaining salad dressing before serving.