Baked Lentils With Goat Cheese
Published January 26, 2009
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- About 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 pound green or beluga lentils about 2 ¼ cups, washed and picked over
1 medium onion, cut in half and peeled
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 bay leaf
Salt, preferably kosher salt to taste
¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley, or a mixture of parsley and chives
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, cut in rounds
FOR THE DRESSING
¼ cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup cooking liquid from the lentils
Salt, preferably kosher salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
Nutritional analysis per serving
51 grams carbs; 9 milligrams cholesterol; 413 calories; 8 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 14 grams fat; 9 grams fiber; 371 milligrams sodium; 23 grams protein; 2 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Place the lentils in a large saucepan or soup pot with the halved onion, the garlic cloves, and the bay leaf. Add enough water to cover by 1 ½ inches. Bring to a simmer, add 1 teaspoon salt, cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender all the way through but intact. Set a strainer over a bowl and drain the lentils. Remove the onion halves, bay leaf, and garlic and discard. Return the liquid to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to ½ cup.
- Step 2
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Whisk together the vinegar, garlic, Dijon mustard, olive oil, and cooking liquid from the lentils. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with the lentils. Stir in the parsley (or parsley and chives), place in a baking dish and top with the rounds of goat cheese. Heat through for 15 minutes, until the goat cheese has softened, and serve.
Advance preparation: The lentils can be made and tossed with the dressing up to 3 days ahead. Do not add the parsley until just before warming the salad.
Private Notes
Comments
Ha, am reading this more carefully than I did when I made it. With friends arriving and cocktails, I completely missed the oven transition and did it all on the stove top. Had crumbled in the cheese and let in melt in a blobby sort of way. Rest assured, was fab anyway (plus the oven was occupied roasting wonderful chickens). Consider the stove a viable, if different, option.
This was very good. I think that adding the reduced broth to the dressing made for a richer and more complex flavor. Next time I may try the stovetop approach of the previous commenter - baking the goat cheese on top of the lentils just dried it out - I would prefer the 'blobby' melted texture.
Made this last night and followed the recipe exactly. I used tiny French lentils and this is the absolute best lentil recipe I have ever cooked or tasted. This will be an Autumn staple for sure. The textures and flavors were simply remarkable. I think the balance of partially cooking the lentils stovetop first, then baking with the marinade is the key to the success of the dish and I wouldn't veer from this method.
I roughly cut this in half, 1 cup of lentils and three cups water, other ingredients more or less halved. Covered the baking dish with foil to keep the goat cheese from drying out, and sprinkled a little bit of lime juice at the end. Came out beautifully.
Great recipes for French green lentils- they were the star. But I dint want to trash the veggies so I started with a mirepoix, drained everything together before dressing the salad. I also had cherry tomatoes which I halved, roasted with some balsamic and olive oil. Added the tomatoes to the salad before heating and it added color and texture. I love this recipe!
I did this with chickpeas, and it was great