Braised sausages with lentils and apples

Like I wrote in my last post, I'm really into comfort food at the moment. This casserole with sausages, lentils and apples might not be very pretty dish, but it tastes heavenly and is easy to make. My sister and her husband were here over the weekend, and as they also are major foodies, we both ate and talked about food a lot. We had this discussion if it's healthier to eat a lot of lentils and beans compared to for example dishes with meat. I don't know, I think I'll side with my sister here and say it comes down more to portion size if you want to eat healthy and losing weight (Sorry L!). That said, I do think everyone would benefit from eating more lentils, because they are nutritious, cheap and most importantly of all, delicious. Though this is an incredibly tasty dish, making portion size control difficult....

If you don't like sausages, and those strange people exist - my sister is one of them, you could braise beef or chicken instead, but maybe then also add some smoked bacon for flavour. Or make the lentils without any meat and serve it with for example pan-fried cod.

Braised sausages with lentils and apples (4 portions)
4 dl puy or green lentils
4 bay leaves
1 cube of beef stock
450 g of sausages (I used Tesco's chili pork sausages)
1 large red onion, in thin wedges
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 apples, in wedges
1 tbsp flour
1 dl red wine
1 tsp dried thyme
1 large tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 cube of chicken stock
water
salt and pepper

Start by boiling the lentils in beef stock together with the bay leaves. Cook for 15-20 minutes until they start to soften but still are a bit crunchy.

Cut the sausages in thirds, and fry in a large saucepan on medium heat until golden.

Add the onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the apples and fry for another couple of minutes.

Sprinkle over the flour and stir it in.

Add the red wine and about 3 dl of chicken stock, also add the thyme and mustard.

Drain the lentils and remove the bay leaves. Add the lentils to the saucepan and cook on low heat for another 15 min. Add more stock if necessary.

Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!

Today's song is Veronica Maggio's Stopp