This recipe for Sausage, Barley, and Lentil Stew is everyday cooking at its best. Delicious fresh, but reheats beautifully with a splash of extra stock, a knob of butter, and a light sprinkling of coarse salt.
Sausage, Barley, and Lentil Stew
Course: DinnerCuisine: Central European, Eastern European4-6
servings20
minutes1
hour5
minutes1
hour25
minutesYou can transfer the veg all into a single, large mixing bowl as you’re chopping. While the vegetables are cooking, measure all the next ingredients into the same mixing bowl.
Ingredients
1L chicken stock (4¼ cups), divided
1 cup dried mushrooms
1 Tbs olive oil
4 large (1⅔ lbs in total) “wild rice and mushroom” sausages
1 Tbs butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
89g red lentils (scant ½ cup)
157g pearl barley (¾ cup)
150ml dry white wine (⅔ cup)
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
1 Tbs Dijon, plus more to taste
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh parsley, minced
Directions
- Heat 1 cup of the stock to boiling, and pour it over the mushrooms. Let steep for at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat a casserole pot over medium heat. Add the oil, swirl it around, and fry the sausages until browned and golden on all sides, 12 minutes, shaking the pan now and then to help prevent sticking. Remove and set aside.
- Add the butter to the pot, and cook the onion, celery, garlic and carrot until softened and fragrant, about 4 minutes.
- Add the lentils, barley, wine, vinegar, stock, mustard, thyme, and bay. Stir well. Raise the heat to med-high to bring the mixture to a low boil. Return the sausages to the pan, resting them on top of the other ingredients. Reduce the heat to medium-low (600 watts) and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender and the stew is thick, about 40 minutes. Remove the sausages from the pot. Slice into bite-sized rounds. Return to the pot.
- Season well. Stir in a small handful of parsley.
Notes
- Substitutions: another flavor of sausage for the “wild rice and mushroom”
- I used fresh sausages. If you use smoked, you’ll still need to brown them and warm them through, but you won’t need to cook them.
This is a delicious, stick-to-your ribs stew. You may want to have extra stock on-hand for leftovers, since the barley will continue to soak up liquid over time. The lentils will almost, but not quite, disintegrate, which will thicken the soup.
This stew is earthy, savory, and very rich. The barley and lentils provides a deep, nutty base. The sausage adds fat, salt, and spices. The wine and mustard are crucial; they cut through the heaviness and brighten things up. White wine makes anything taste sophisticated.
I do not know why I measured all the ingredients out in metric units. Sorry about that!
Four servings would be very, very hearty. Six would be quite reasonable.
Sausage, Barley, and Lentil Stew
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