{"id":2822,"date":"2024-01-06T11:06:20","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T11:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/?p=2822"},"modified":"2024-01-06T11:06:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T11:06:20","slug":"lentils-for-luck-with-pancetta-and-fennel-seeds-cooked-in-white-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/lentils-for-luck-with-pancetta-and-fennel-seeds-cooked-in-white-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Lentils for Luck, with Pancetta and Fennel Seeds, cooked in White Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In Italy, on New Year\u2019s Eve, once the clocks strike midnight, a plate of warm cooked lentils is shared as a symbol and an augury to bring luck and wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Lentils, the shape of small little discs, are said to represent coins, and the more you eat of them, the more prosperous and happy the upcoming year will be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I\u2019ve always enjoyed a symbolic small plate of lentils served just past midnight, but different regions have their own traditions. In Emilia Romagna for example, cooked lentils are served with a sticky <em>cotechino<\/em> sausage or <em>zampone<\/em> (pig\u2019s trotter stuffed with the same filling as the <em>cotechino<\/em>). Cooked lentils are a great accompaniment to boiled or roast meat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">This year we spent Christmas and New Year\u2019s Eve in Poland, following my homeland culinary traditions.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>But once back in our London home I made us a large pot of <em>lenticchie di Spello<\/em> (lentils from Spello, Umbria), just to be on the safe side.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">There are so many ways you can cook your lentils, with pancetta or without it, with fresh herbs like rosemary, or just with a bay leaf. Recently I\u2019ve been reaching out a lot for fennel seeds, and it\u2019s how I\u2019ve flavoured the lentils in the recipe below. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Note: I prefer to cook my lentils separately, starting by immersing them in cold water and bringing them gently to simmer. Should you wish to make just a one pot dish, add the lentils to the pot after you\u2019ve fried the pancetta with the <em>soffritto,<\/em> but bare in mind, the dish will result in a stronger flavour and a deeper colour, and you will need a bit more liquid for cooking.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Serves 4-6:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">250-270 g of lentils, washed <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">100 g of pancetta, cubed or cut into thin lardons<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">2-3 tablespoons of olive oil<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1 small onion, finely chopped<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1 carrot, finely chopped<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1 celery stick, finely chopped<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1\/2 of a small dry chilli <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1 teaspoon of fennel seeds<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">60 ml of white wine<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1tablespoon of tomato puree<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">about 250 ml of light chicken or vegetable stock<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">salt to taste <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Place the lentils in a small pot, cover with cold water (2-3cm above the lentils) and bring to a simmer (with the lid on). Cook until the lentils turn just tender, about 15 min, depending on the lentils you are using.You could add some more flavour at this stage already: like a stick of celery, bay leaf or garlic to the simmering lentils, which is optional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Once the lentils have turned tender (but not soft), take the pot off the heat, season with salt and let it rest for a few minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Heat up the olive oil in a separate tall sided pan or a medium pot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Add the chopped pancetta and fry it for a few minutes. Now add the fennel seeds, chilli and the chopped onion, carrot and celery. Season everything with some salt and fry, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Drain the lentils (leave some liquid after cooking the lentils), add them to the pot, increase the heat and pour in the white wine. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Once the wine has almost evaporated, stir in the tomato puree and pour in the stock.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Cook slowly until the lentils turn soft. Adjust the seasoning if needed. If the resulting dish is too thick, add some water after cooking the lentils, stock or just plain water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Serve warm.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Italy, on New Year\u2019s Eve, once the clocks strike midnight, a plate of warm cooked lentils is shared as a symbol and an augury to bring luck and wealth. Lentils, the shape of small little discs, are said to represent coins, and the more you eat of them, the more prosperous and happy the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/lentils-for-luck-with-pancetta-and-fennel-seeds-cooked-in-white-wine\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Lentils for Luck, with Pancetta and Fennel Seeds, cooked in White Wine&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,6],"tags":[214,378,379,380,381],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2825,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2822\/revisions\/2825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haimangiato.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}