Sausage and Lentil Sunny Day Supper

A very good sunny-day supper of sausages, lentils and tomato sauce.

This is a variant of a Jamie Oliver recipe. According to him, sausages and lentils are the Italian version of sausage and mash. This dish offers the same substantial comfort as the British alternative, but with a lighter edge. It is also perfect for feeding a crowd as the quantities can very easily be adapted to make enough for everyone.
This is perfect served with lots and lots of parsley on a balmy evening with a glass of red wine.


Ingredients (makes enough for two:)

Lentils - allow 2 spilling handfuls per person.
1 Packet of good quality sausages (ie - 3 sausages per person.)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 diced red onion
1 glug of red wine
1 glug of balsamic vinegar
A generous amount of olive oil (or chili oil if, like me, you love it)
2 crushed cloves of garlic
Salt & Pepper
Generous amount of fresh parsley.

I shall discuss each component in turn - each is very straight forward. Prepare it all at the same time and then just bring it all together at the end.

To cook and prepare the Lentils:
I have used simple green lentils, however I have a feeling any type would work well. Cook the lentils according to the packet instructions.
Dress them with a good swig of oil (I use chili oil because I love the stuff,) a dash of red wine, salt + pepper and a generous handful of parsley.
Keep them warm until ready to serve.

To cook and prepare the sauce:
Sweat the onions in olive oil over a medium heat with the garlic. Add half a tin of chopped tomatoes and a splash of balsamic vinegar to give it a sweet, syrupy edge. Season to taste with salt and pepper and parsley. Simmer away until ready to serve.

To cook and prepare the sausages:
Cook according to packet instructions, I tend to bake sausages as it is the easiest and leanest method.

Serve each component on a plate sprinkled with lots of parsley.