Fish and Lentils With Sauce Rof
Updated May 19, 2026
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
- Ready In
- 45 min
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
¾ cup French green or black lentils, rinsed
6 ½ cups water, divided
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Scotch bonnet chiles, jalapenos or serrano chiles (seeded for milder heat)
1 bunch scallions, coarsely chopped
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves and tender stems coarsely chopped
1 lemon, zested and halved, divided
½ cup safflower, grapeseed or canola oil, divided
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
4 (4- to 6-ounce) white fish fillets, such as tilapia, cod, snapper or striped bass
5 ounces baby spinach (see Tips)
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine the lentils with 4 cups water and soak while preparing the sauce and marinating the fish. Soaking the lentils helps speed up cooking later.
- Step 2
Make the sauce rof by pulsing the garlic, chiles, scallions and parsley in a food processor until evenly chopped, scraping the bowl as needed. (Or, finely chop the ingredients by hand.) The mix should resemble confetti. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the lemon zest and the juice of half the lemon, ¼ cup oil, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Stir to combine. Transfer ½ cup sauce to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges for serving.
- Step 3
Pat the fish dry and lightly season both sides with salt and pepper. Add the fillets to the large bowl and turn to coat with sauce. Cover and refrigerate to marinate while the lentils cook.
- Step 4
Drain the lentils and add to a large, deep skillet with a lid. Add 2 ½ cups water, the remaining ¼ cup oil and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 7 minutes.
- Step 5
Reduce heat to medium to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the lentils are al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir ¼ cup of the reserved sauce into the lentils. Stir and continue to cook until the lentils are completely soft, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Step 6
Nestle the fish fillets into the lentils, skin or smooth side down, adding any leftover marinade from the bowl. Cook uncovered until the fish is opaque just around the edges, about 4 minutes. Scatter the spinach on top, season with salt, cover and cook until the greens are wilted and the fish is cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover and push the spinach off the fish to check for doneness: The fillets should flake easily when poked with a fork.
- Step 7
Top with the remaining ¼ cup sauce and serve immediately with the reserved lemon wedges for squeezing.
You can also use 4 to 5 ounces of coarsely chopped mature spinach or mustard or dandelion greens.
Prep Ahead: You can soak the lentils and marinate the fish for up to 12 hours ahead of cooking. Proceed as above for the fish. The lentils will be al dente after step 4, so you can skip the additional 15 minutes of simmering and simply stir in the sauce and continue cooking until they’re completely soft, 5 to 7 minutes more.
Private Notes
Comments
Perfect and well received by my 11 year old. Used red lentils and barramundi, one scotch bonnet pierced and dropped in the lentils while they cooked, then fished out prior to serving. The fish needed an extra 5 minutes. Served over rice.
This dish was absolutely delicious! I had a lot of lovely spring herbs from my CSA so I riffed on the Sauce Rof a bit with chives and cilantro, rather than parsley, and string beans instead of spinach at the end. Otherwise, I followed Yewande's technique for lentils and fish which was so, so yummy. So great, I can't wait to make this again.
Excellent! Making it as spicy as you can handle it - makes it even more complex. I marinated the fish for about 4 hours and I’ve reserved some of the delicious rof to use on something else - the sky is the limit for its uses. I added some cilantro to the rof and used 2 scotch bonnet peppers. I used 2 Wegman’s steamable lentil packets and TJs frozen bronzini fillets. Microwaved the lentil packets then put them in the pot with oil and 1.5 cups of water and followed the rest of the recipe. Used spinach and mustard greens. So good.
Fish (cod) and black lentils cooked perfectly. I marinated the fish for a few hours and soaked the lentils in that time. Looked beautiful but it lacked flavor. I had halved the jalapeno so that might have been it but if I were to make this again I would add cilantro to the mix of herbs. I like that this was a complete dinner with the lentils and spinach in the same pot as the fish. Timing was right for me. Just a bit too mild...
I used French lentils. Lentils with fish are great. This was delicious with multi layered flavors. The lentils pack a real protein punch. I had it for dinner followed by multiple lunches at room temperature. I’ll definitely make it again.