Nicola Graimes

Creamy mustard and spinach lentils

Preparation info

  • Serves

    4

    • Difficulty

      Easy

    • Ready in

      20 min

Appears in

The Part-Time Vegetarian: Flexible Recipes to Go (Nearly) Meat-Free

The Part-Time Vegetarian

By Nicola Graimes

Published 2015

  • About

This simple recipe uses canned green lentils to make a quick lunch, but if time allows dried lentils don’t take that much longer to cook and are more economical to buy. A crumbly goats’ or sheep’s cheese is scattered over the top just before serving, but this could easily be smoked bacon if you’re looking for an easy-to-adapt meal. A slice of country-style bread griddled until golden and crisp then rubbed with the cut side of a clove of garlic is the perfect accompaniment.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 175 g/6 oz baby leaf spinach
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 5 vine-ripened tomatoes, deseeded and diced
  • 2 x 400 g/14 oz cans green or brown lentils, drained
  • 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • juice of ½ large lemon
  • 5 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 100 g/3½ oz Lancashire cheese, or firm goats’ or sheep’s cheese, crumbled
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • thick slices of griddled toast rubbed with garlic, to serve

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over a medium-low heat and cook the spinach for 2–3 minutes, turning the leaves with tongs until evenly wilted. Add the garlic, tomatoes and lentils and cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
  • Add the mustard, lemon juice and crème fraîche, season with salt and pepper and warm through for a couple of minutes, stirring until combined. Crumble over the cheese and serve with slices of griddled garlicky toast.