Lentils with Pancetta, Anchovies, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Kale
When I wrote my cookbook Secrets of the Best Chefs over a decade ago, I stood in the kitchen of Beast, Chef Naomi Pomeroy’s then-flagship restaurant in Portland, trying to keep up as she made a giant batch of lentils. Every time I looked away, it seemed like she was adding a new ingredient: was that sugar that she added? “Maple sugar,” she explained. Was that spinach she was stirring in? “No, that’s kale.”
When I was testing the recipe at home, I marveled at how bold Naomi Pomeroy’s sensibility is: for most people, pancetta alone would be enough to enhance a pot of lentils. But that’s just the starting point here.
Pancetta is the base flavor (you could use slab bacon for a similar effect). Once the pancetta’s crisp, you remove it and add mirepoix to the fat — your carrots, onions, and celery — and suddenly the aroma changes, giving off wafts of vegetal goodness. But, oh, there’s so much more in store.
In goes the red pepper flakes and the maple sugar (I substituted brown sugar). Then sun-dried tomatoes, that most maligned ingredient from the 80s that I still adore (see: my favorite pasta.)Then comes the anchovies and garlic. And finally, par-cooked green lentils.
Chef Pomeroy has you “fry” the lentils in the remaining fat for a few minutes, before you add the cooked pancetta and the chopped cooked kale back to the pot. It’s a step that feels very cheffy. We mostly think of lentils as a stewy, sloshy, often muddy preparation of legumes. Here the lentils take on a little color as you let them sizzle at the bottom of your cooking vessel.
Once you stir in the pancetta and kale, you turn off the heat and you can let it all sit until your guests arrive. Then you stir in some lemon juice and olive oil and you’re done.
These lentils, in and of themselves, are a showstopper. The secret’s in the umami: you get it from the pancetta, you get it from the sun-dried tomatoes, and you get it from the anchovies. They’re so packed with flavor, they’re good enough to stand on their own. But I served these up with Sam Sifton’s mustard brown sugar salmon and it was a perfect dinner, if I do say so myself.
(The salmon recipe is beyond easy: mix equal amounts of brown sugar and Dijon mustard. Season your salmon with salt and pepper, place it on a foil lined sheet skin-side down, and slather with the mustard mixture. Roast in a 425 oven for 10 minutes or until a thermometer says 145. Voila.)
So the next time you’re making lentils, channel your inner Naomi Pomeroy and be bold. It’s meek chefs who give lentils a bad name. Time to set things right.
Lentils with Pancetta, Anchovies, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Kale
A shocking combination of flavors from Chef Naomi Pomeory that enhance lentils beyond anything you’ve ever experienced before.
Ingredients:
Kosher salt
1 bunch Tuscan kale, stemmed
1 carrot, plus 2 carrots finely chopped
1 celery stalk, plus 2 stalks finely chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, plus 1 medium yellow onion cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 cups dried green lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup diced pancetta or slab bacon
A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
A pinch or two of maple sugar, muscovado sugar, or brown sugar
6 sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, sliced
3 anchovies, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
A splash of good-quality finishing olive oil
Instructions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and season it well with salt (a few tablespoons). Add your kale and blanch for two minutes, then use tongs to remove it to a bowl to cool before chopping it up. Set aside.
In that same pot of water (I’m saving you a dish), add your single carrot, celery stalk, and 1/2 yellow onion, plus the lentils. Lower to a simmer and cook until the lentils are just al dente, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, discard the vegetables, and set the lentils aside.
In a large pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil with the pancetta over medium-high heat until very hot and the pancetta starts to render. Allow it to cook until the pancetta is crisp and has released most of its fat, 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove the pancetta to a plate and add the chopped carrot and celery and the diced onion. Sprinkle with the red pepper flakes and the maple sugar; cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, fry for a minute, then add the anchovies and the garlic. Cook until the anchovies dissolve and the garlic just starts to brown, another 2 minutes or so.
Pat the lentils dry and add them to the pan, frying them in the hot oil until they start to crisp up a bit, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the pancetta and the kale and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. If the lentils are getting too brown, you can add some water at this point.
Taste for seasoning, squeeze the lemon juice over everything, and drizzle with the finishing oil. Serve hot.
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