№ 181 Potatoes, lentils and pistachio chimichurri

Prep 15 min

Cook 1 hr

Serves 4

• VEGAN

• DAIRY FREE

• GLUTEN FREE

Ingredients

500g cooked puy lentils (or 230g dried puy lentils)

600g new potatoes, washed and halved

2 large fennel (600g), trimmed and cut into 2cm wedges

2 red onions, peeled and cut into 2cm wedges

2 lemons, 1 cut into wedges, 1 juiced

8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced Extra-virgin olive oil 1½ tsp fine sea salt 50g flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 green jalapeño chillies, stems removed, flesh chopped

40g unsalted shelled pistachios

My grandfather was always the chief instigator of family picnics, and the sort he liked were very elaborate. They took a morning of preparation, only for us to drive to a car park and walk a couple of metres before rolling out the Tupperware. There were always potatoes, lentils and greens, and, although this recipe wasn’t what we ate then, it is an assembly of his favourite things. I wrote this for eating outdoors, in the garden, on a park bench ... or in a car park.

You’ll need a blender to make the chimichurri. You can use one green finger or rocket chilli instead of jalapeños (or leave them out altogether if you prefer).

Method

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/ gas 7. If you’re cooking the lentils from scratch, rinse well, tip into a small saucepan for which you have a lid, and cover in 2cm of cold water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, put the lid on and simmer for 12 minutes, until the lentils are cooked but retain a little bite. Drain and leave to cool in a sieve.

Put the potatoes, fennel, onion, lemon wedges and six of the minced garlic cloves in a large roasting tray, pour over 75ml oil and sprinkle a teaspoon of salt. Toss well then roast for 50 minutes, until all the vegetables are bronzed, the potatoes are crunchy and the fennel is crisp at the edges. Add the lentils, stir, then return to the oven for five minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, whiz the parsley, the remaining two cloves of minced garlic, the chillies, pistachios, two tablespoons

lemon juice, half a teaspoon of salt and 75ml of oil to create a thick sauce, then leave this to marinate.

To serve, stir most of the chimichurri dressing into the hot vegetables and toss to coat. Top with

little more chimichurri.