Whilst wondering what to cook for dinner, with little meat and no fish in the freezer, and Mr MaMT away (NB he doesn’t like lentils), I suddenly remembered this lentil recipe that our Spanish guest had sought out, similar to what her mother cooks sometimes.  Good old Google translate, whilst it gets a few words and phrases jumbled up, it allows you to get the gist.  So, here’s the rather tasty recipe, with a few necessary tweaks.  It makes about five good serves.  I also steamed some dumplings in the varoma tray for the last 15 minutes.  You might even like to steam extra veggies in the varoma dish to make the stew go a bit further!
 
Soak the night before (or do what I did in the morning and weigh into a Thermoserver, (a wide rimmed thermos would do), and pour over enough boiling water to cover, popping the lid on in the meantime :

• 250g lentils

Next day – or later on – add to bowl, and chop 3 secs/speed 6 then cook 100 deg / speed 1 / 5 mins:

• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tomato
• big glug of olive oil

Add and cook 100 deg / reverse / speed spoon / 35 mins:

• 1 large carrot, sliced into chunky ‘coins’
• 2 medium sized potatoes, cubed (biggish cubes, so they don’t turn to mush)
• Diced ham (I used some left-over gammon)
• 1 diced chorizo (I didn’t have any, but it would add to the depth of flavour, for sure)
• 1 tsp (smoked) paprika
• 250g drained, soaked lentils
• 570-600g water (or enough to hit the max mark)
• 2 tbs stock paste (or 1 tbs and a pinch of salt, as you wish)

 Serve and enjoy with a wedge of bread or some dumplings!  See here for a gluten and dairy free recipe

Tips:
Before starting (or use a separate bowl), mix up a dumpling batter to steam in moulds in the varoma tray, when the stew has 15 minutes left to go.  Just make sure you press the varoma button to proceed at this point!

For more of a Mexican twist, use smoked paprika and make some cornbread to go with the stew, instead of the dumplings