This simple recipe ticks the box in terms of protein and greens, and it’s topped off with delicious, creamy cheese. Working from home lunch couldn’t get better!
Working from home lunches tend to be pretty quick and unadventurous — there are only so many toasted sandwiches you can scoff. We’re all starting to miss our favourite cafés and delis right now.
For something light and flavoursome, make greens more exciting with a bit of heat and some filling lentils for a lunch that will leave you satisfied. Here, Nigel Slater shares a dish from his gorgeous book Greenfeast.
“Much of my weekday eating contains neither meat nor fish, it is simply the way my eating has grown to be over the last few years. This dish has milky, fragile cheese, earthy lentils and sizzling, chilli-hot greens.”
Try cooking the lentils the night before to make this even speedier.
Burrata, broccoli and lentils
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 80g small green or brown lentils
- Olive oil
- 1 medium sized head of broccoli
- 2 garlic cloves
- 30g butter
- 1 medium red chilli
- 2 balls of burrata cheese
Method:
- Cook the lentils in deep, lightly salted boiling water for about twenty minutes till tender but toothsome. Drain them, toss in a splash of olive oil and set aside.
- Slice the green florets from the top of the broccoli. Shave any tough bits from the stalks with a vegetable peeler, then cut the largest into small pieces. Leave any small ones whole.
- Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the broccoli stalks. Let them cook for a couple of minutes, then remove, drain and set aside. Peel and finely slice the garlic cloves, then fry in the butter in a shallow pan till deep gold, crisp and fragrant. Remove them from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
- Finely chop and fry the chilli in the garlic pan, adding a little more butter or oil if necessary, then, as soon as it is soft, add the broccoli florets. Cook for a couple of minutes till tender, then add the cooked stalks and continue cooking for a further two minutes till hot.
- Drain the cheese, put one burrata on each plate, then spoon over the sizzling broccoli and lentils. Scatter the crisp garlic over the top and serve.
This recipe appeared in the June 2019 issue of Irish Country Magazine.
