Thoughtful Eating: Jonas' Lentil Gratin (or my version anyways)

I finally made my friend Jonas' (of All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing! fame) Lentil Gratin. It was a very simple recipe that turned out quite delicious, although you can't quite tell by my poorly lit and out-of-focus photographs. This made good use of my half-bag of lentils in my pantry. By the time I made this, it was so late into the evening that I ate most of it before it finished cooking in the oven. It was still delicious though!

Jonas' Lentil Gratin (or my version anyways)

This recipe requires three different smaller recipes that combine into one final casserole!

Lentils

8 oz. of lentils

- Cook to package instructions. Make sure you pick through the lentils for stones, bad lentils and other random bits and bobs that are not edible. Then cook in salted water, vegetable broth or chicken broth until the lentils absorb all the water. Set the lentils aside.

- I did this the night before and refrigerated the lentils. This saved me so much time!

Sauteed Onion & Garlic
- Sautee some chopped onions and garlic in olive oil. I didn't have garlic so I stuck with the onions. Once the onions are soft, set aside.

Bechamel Sauce

- Making Bechamel Sauce is a bit of a science. I use the basic formula of 1 tablespoon flour + 1 tablespoon milk + 1 cup of milk. Halve, double or triple to suit your needs.

- You need to start with a Roux which is the fat and the flour cooked together. I put 1 tablespoon of flour in a pan wil the the butter. While the butter melts, mix the flour in to cook it a bit.

- It starts to turn a golden color like this. Don't over cook it or let it get to brown.

- Slowly incorporate the 1 cup of milk and constantly whisk to get out the lumps. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to the mixture and cook over a medium flame. Keep stirring the mixture until it gets thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.

- If you have some good cheese handy, add a half cup of shredded cheese to the bechamel sauce to make a cheese sauce. Yum!