CookEat Recipe
Lentil and Courgette Sauce with Sesame
Cooked brown lentils are puréed with raw courgette and tomato into a substantial sauce. Sesame oil and fresh dill provide the finish, alongside lemon juice, red wine vinegar and olive oil.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Wash the fresh produce and use clean utensils. Unless specified below, vegetable weights refer to the prepared edible parts. Reserve 250 ml of the listed water for blending; the remaining 1500 ml is for the soaking and cooking steps below.
Step 2
Use 180 g of dry whole brown lentils, weighed before soaking or cooking. Pick over and rinse.
Step 3
Put the rinsed lentils in a saucepan with 1000 ml of the cooking water; keep 500 ml aside to top up if needed.
Step 4
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20–35 minutes, until every lentil crushes easily with a fork, adding the reserved cooking water if needed to keep them submerged. Follow any longer packet directions. Drain well and discard the cooking liquid and unused top-up water. Add acidic ingredients only after this cooking is complete.
Step 5
While the pulses simmer, prepare and cook the other components in the steps below. Keep the prepared raw ingredients refrigerated until needed; if cooked components are ready early, cool them promptly and refrigerate.
Step 6
Trim the fresh courgette and grate finely. Core the tomatoes and chop roughly. Weigh the lemon as whole fruit before cutting. Squeeze and strain out the seeds; use all the extracted juice, not the peel or white pith. Wash, dry and finely chop dill; discard coarse stems.
Step 7
Spread the cooked components in a shallow dish and let them cool for about 10 minutes until no longer hot before mixing with the fresh ingredients. Prepare the remaining ingredients while the cooked components cool.
Step 8
Combine the prepared lentils, courgette, sesame oil, dill, red wine vinegar, tomato, lemon juice in a blender with all the olive oil. Add the 250 ml of blending water. Blend until evenly combined, stopping to scrape down the bowl.
Step 9
Transfer to a clean serving container and rest for 10 minutes. Serve promptly, or refrigerate in a shallow covered container at 4°C or below and use within 2 days. Keep total time at room temperature under 2 hours; stir before serving.
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