For those of you who haven't yet visited Borgo di Vagli and for those who had the enjoyment of experiencing Dina's mouth-watering casalinga cuisine in the Hamlet's trattoria I' cche c'é c'é, in each newsletter we continue to highlight one of Dina's popular recipes for you to try at home, this month we highlight Dina's vellutata di lenticchie
Ingredients for 6 people
| - | 400g of biological green lentils |
| - | 400g of peeled chestnuts |
| - | 3 medium size potatoes |
| - | 1 medium size onion |
| - | 100g of pancetta (bacon) |
| - | 1,5 liter of free-range chicken stock |
| - | 1 small glass of extra virgin olive oil |
| - | One laurel leaf |
| - | A sprig of marjoram |
| - | Egg yolk |
| - | 150 gr puff pastry |
| - | salt and pepper |
Preparation:
| 1 | Peel the potatoes, cut them into small cubes and rinse them. |
| 2 | Peel the onion and chop finely. |
| 3 | Cut the rind off the pancetta (bacon) and cut into small cubes. |
| 4 | Rinse the bay leaves and marjoram. |
| 5 | Brown the onion and pancetta with 4 tablespoons of olive oil, then add the potatoes, lentils and chestnuts. |
| 6 | Stir and simmer for a minute, then add the hot chicken broth, marjoram and bay leaves. |
| 7 | Cover and simmer 30 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. |
| 8 | Meanwhile, on the work surface, roll out the puff pastry to roughly 0.5cm thick and, using a star shaped cutter, cut as many (cruttons) as possible. |
| 9 | Transfer to the baking tin lined with baking paper. |
| 10 | Brush with beaten egg yolk or milk and bake for 6 minutes at 180 until they have risen and have a nice golden colour. |
| 11 | Now back to the soup, remove the laurel and marjoram, and sieve. |
| 12 | Put back on the heat and slowly bring to the boil. |
| 13 | Season and remove from the heat. |
Serve with some your best Tuscan olive oil and some starlets of puff pastry. Buon Appetito
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