Braised Puy Lentils

Puy lentils hold their shape where the split red kind collapse, which makes them a side rather than a soup. They want thirty-five minutes and no salt until the last five, because salt added early toughens the skins.

The vegetables go in whole

Halved carrot and celery, cooked with the lentils and lifted out at the end, flavour the liquid without leaving you with a pan of mush. Dice them small and stir them through at the finish only if you want them visible.

Stock rather than water is not a refinement, it is the difference between something worth eating and something worthy. If you have chicken stock in the freezer, use it.

Finish with acid

A tablespoon of red wine vinegar off the heat. Lentils are flat without it, and almost everybody who says they do not like lentils has only eaten them unacidulated.