The ONLY way to cook lentils with Marco Pierre White | Meet your Maestro | BBC Maestro

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Perfectly cooked lentils, paired with delicate cod. Marco Pierre White shows how a simple dish becomes exceptional with care and technique.

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One of my favorite meals came only once a year and that was New Year’s Eve. We used to have the kotakino sausage with the mustard de cremona, the mustard fruits on a bed of lentils with cream potatoes. It was that simple. And the truth is I didn’t like the cotino sausage. It was too fatty for me. I didn’t like the mustard cremona. But what I did like was the lentils. So these lentils have been blanched. And how we blanch them is we cover generously with water and bring to the simmer. And once they come to the simmer, then we refresh them under cold water. And then we drain them and then we proceed. So let’s take the lentils, chicken stock, a very generous amount of olive oil. Let’s take some garlic. Let’s take some thyme. And bay leaf. Most people add carrots, celery, onions. It’s not necessary. All those ingredients are in your stock. So, let’s not just waste money and let’s not waste time. So, we bring the lentils to the simmer. We pull them to the side. They’ll take about 25, 30, 35 minutes to cook, but we don’t season now because if we season now, it makes them hard. We season out the end with salt and pepper. And when you cook lentils, what people don’t realize is how versatile lentils are. We can cook them, allow them to cool, splash a little bit of vintage balsamic over them, just have them as a salad. Delicious. We can have them like my mother cooked them with a cotakino sausage. We can have them with salmon. We can have them with cod. You can have that great French classic pulley or lenti sensational. It’s a great one to have at home because once you make them kept in the fridge, they last for three or 4 days and they’ve got all those different uses. So, a little white pepper. One of my favorite spices, little salt. Just work through your seasoning. Then, one final taste. A little bit more olive oil. Just work that through. A little bit more pepper. If you don’t season to the max, then it’s underseasoned. And then cool your lentils. [Music] Then just put them on the board so the air can get underneath to cool them down quicker. Because if we leave them in the pan, what happens is they continue to cook and then you end up with something like mushy peas just to assist it cooling down. Allow them to cool in a tub in your fridge. They’ll last three to four days, depending on your fridge. But they’re delicious. After two days, after three days, they get better and better and better. Never forget that. My English family in Yorkshire eat fish and chips with mushy peas, a splash of malt vinegar, a sprinkling of salt. My Italian family, they have fried cod with lentils, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. So, guess which one will I cook? The cod with lentils. Let’s get the cod. Okay. Pan. Olive oil. So, we’re going to cook it skin on. So, we want a lot of oil in there. So, when it hits the pan, it’s cooking straight away. I’ve seasoned it already. So, there’s the cod frying. I’m warming the lentils. Now with the mushrooms, a little olive oil. Little seasoning. They go under the grill. [Music] She rolls first. Then when they’re almost cooked in with the tommy dela more cuz they cook so quick. Timings are very important. Right. If you don’t like fish skin, that’s fine. Peel it off when you get it. It’s there also to protect it. So, eating it is optional. I like skin. Some people don’t. Just bring the heat into the lentils slowly. [Music] Work the pan according to the stove. Give the mushrooms a toss. As you can see, they’re wilting down now. In with a few thrill more. Just work them through. [Music] Notice I haven’t removed the pan from the stove. I may have moved it because this side is the hottest. This is cooler. So, let me bring that round to there. Right. You may ask why the cocktail stick to check the fish. If there’s resistance, it’s still not quite cooked. I reckon we’re 1 and 1/2 minutes away. Okay, keep warm. The lentils are now coming into the heat. Just work the pan. Let the stove do the work for you. Lentils, cod, mushroom. So, we took you from one pan to two pans to three pans. is not quite cooked. It’s not far away. Just allow it to finish off in its own heat. Remember, cooking is not a race. And when you serve lentils with fish, cod, salmon, fantastic, make sure the lentils are softer than the texture of the fish. If the lentils are not softer then the lentils become the dominant not the fish. So a little check. So let’s dress then. [Music] There we are. A little bit of olive oil on the lentils, little crystal salt, a little bath, vintage. This one’s 12 years old. And some parsley just to wash the pallet. And again, this is how I serve my dinners at home in the pan so nothing’s lost. And there we are. Cod with lentils and wild mushrooms. Simple, straightforward. But the mushrooms, the vine basamic, the olive oil, the crystal salt just take it to another level. It gives you that sense of occasion. And that’s what cooking’s all about. Enjoy.