Lentils with Wholegrain Spelt Spaetzle and Root Vegetables

Swabia without the sausages: the lentils take their depth from roasted roots and a splash of vinegar, and the spaetzle are scraped from wholegrain spelt. Still tart, still hearty, and plant-based apart from the eggs in the dough.

• 70 minutes
• 4 servings
• Main course

• vegetarian
• nut-free
• lactose-free
• folatreich
• high in protein

Ingredients

• 200 g Green lentils (weighed dry, no soaking needed)
• 150 g Carrots (finely diced)
• 100 g Celery (celeriac)
• 100 g Leek (in rings)
• 100 g Onion
• 25 g Apple cider vinegar (at the end - the tartness is what defines the dish)
• 1 g Bay leaf (one leaf)
• 25 g Canola oil
• 300 g Vegetable broth
• 400 g Water (to top up)
• 240 g Wholegrain spelt flour (for the spaetzle dough)
• 165 g Eggs (three, for the dough)
• 4 g Salt

Instructions

1. Roast the onion, carrot, celeriac and leek in the canola oil over medium heat for ten minutes until the dice take on colour. This roasting step replaces the bacon.
2. Add the lentils, top up with stock and water, drop in the bay leaf.
3. Cover and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes until the lentils are tender but still holding shape.
4. For the spaetzle, beat the spelt flour, eggs, 100 ml water and a pinch of salt into a stiff dough until it blisters. Rest for ten minutes.
5. Scrape the dough in batches from a wet board into simmering salted water. The spaetzle are done when they float - lift them out with a slotted spoon.
6. Remove the bay leaf from the lentils and stir in the vinegar and salt. Only now taste - the acidity shifts everything.
7. Spoon the lentils over the spaetzle.

Warum der Essig zum Schluss gehört

Acid firms up the skin of the lentil. Cook the vinegar along and you wait twice as long for tender lentils - and still taste less of it at the end, because some of the acid boils away.

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