Stick To Your Ribs: Sausage and Lentils

La Cucina Povera has gained popularity, as it always does, during hard times. While this dish is not technically poor because it does contain meat, it is a very cost efficient way to feed a high protein meal to a group of people. But far more important, they will be fully content afterwards. The best part of Italy's poverty cuisine is that it makes the best of very simple ingredients, combining them in a way that brings out the most flavor.

Ingredients for four people:

8 medium sized Italian sausages

Two cups dried lentils, boiled and set aside (takes about 20-25 minutes)

Olive Oil

1 small can chopped tomatoes

half cup white wine

1 chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 small chile pepper or peperoncino, chopped

salt and pepper

Lightly grease a large, deep skillet with olive oil. Sautee the sausage until they are brown on all sides. Remove them from the pan. In the same pan (with the drippings in there), saute the garlic (smashed) and the onion. When the onions are transparent, add the white wine. Let the wine reduce and add the tomatoes and the chopped peperoncino. Let the ingredients simmer together for five minutes on a low heat and add the sausages back in. Add the lentils and let the entire dish cook for another 20-25 minutes.

I served with parsley potatoes, which worked well.

Buon Appetito!