INGREDIENTS
Serves 6 as a starter, 4 as a main
For the lentils:
-
500g small brown lentils
-
2 carrots, peeled
-
1 onion, peeled
-
3 sticks celery
-
3 cloves garlic
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120ml extra virgin olive oil
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A handful chopped parsley (stalks and leaves apart)
-
2 bay leaves (fresh or dried)
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2 tsp salt
For the sugo:
- 1 x 400g can Italian peeled plum tomatoes or 500g cherry
tomatoes - 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 90ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
METHOD
Prepare your lentils:
Chop the carrot, celery, onion and garlic into tiny half-centimetre pieces, along with the parsley stalks.
Warm the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the chopped vegetables to it, making sure that they soften without browning (this should take at least 10 minutes).
Add 1 litre of cold water and 2 tsp of salt, then tip the lentils into the pan, stir well and cover until they begin to boil.
Turn the heat down to minimum, add the bay leaves and continue to simmer, with the lid on, for at least 45 minutes until the lentils have softened, but not turned mushy (this will depend on the age and variety of lentils, so keep a kettle of boiling water to hand in case all the liquid has been absorbed but the lentils are still tough).
Make the sugo:
While the lentils are cooking, cut the cherry tomatoes into halves or snip the tinned tomatoes into similar-sized pieces.
Take the largest frying pan you own, add the oil and the whole cloves of garlic and gently heat until the garlic turns a pale gold.
Add the tomatoes and the salt and cook, uncovered, on a medium heat, occasionally mashing with a fork to break up the tomatoes.
The sauce is ready when an orange slick of oil rises to the surface.
Now, add the sauce to the lentils - though if you love, or loathe, tomatoes, you can tweak the proportions or even leave them out altogether. (I personally think that the tomato sugo 'wakes up' lentils, which can tip into a monasticism if completely unadorned).
Sprinkle each bowl with the chopped parsley leaves, plus a splash of oil, and serve with bread.
On Sunday 5th October, Good Food Club members are invited to join a celebratory feast at London’s Best Local Restaurant of 2025, Ida.
Full of infectious warmth and heartfelt Italian cooking, a meal at Ida feels like being welcomed into the family home. Our event will begin with a welcome drink and a reading by Simonetta Wenkert from her memoir Ida, At My Table, about how she and her family built and steered their beloved neighbourhood restaurant through trials and triumphs over the past two decades on Kilburn Lane.
Around communal tables we’ll enjoy a three-course lunch featuring delicious regional Italian dishes. To round things off, there will be a Q&A, hosted (if schedules allow) by a special guest interviewer. In keeping with Ida’s sense of community spirit, we will be supporting Laurence’s Larder, with optional donations available upon booking.
