Ingredients
2 cups lentils (any color)
4-5 cups of chicken or beef stock (your choice depending on flavor you like or what you have)
1 lb. of mild Italian sausage
1 cup of diced carrots (you can also use 1 can of diced if you prefer)
½ yellow onion diced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms (whatever flavor you prefer. Again, you can use a can of sliced mushrooms if you prefer)
1 green pepper diced
1 tbs Italian seasoning
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 12 oz package of goat cheese
Directions:
Cook the lentils per package directions in a stock pot with your chicken or beef stock. This is basically just boiling them off until they are al dente and a little way from being done.
Brown the sausage and set aside
Using the same pan, sauté the onion, green pepper, mushrooms and carrots until softened.
Using a 9×13 casserole pan, mix the sausage, lentils (with ½ cup of any remaining stock if any), and vegetables with the seasoning mix and spread evenly in the casserole dish.
Dollop bits of goat cheese around the top of the casserole and then sprinkle the top with shredded cheddar
Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 20 min until cheese is melted and the lentils have completed cooking.
Serve Immediately
The Story:
In our house, the birthday celebrant gets to choose dinner for the day. When the kids were younger this usually involved going out to eat. Golden Corral was a favorite due to the buffet style and all you can eat desserts. Ever see a 7-year-old eat 11 desserts? No? Trust me, you don’t want to see what happened! However, I digress. As the kids grew older, they wanted some of Mom’s cooking, usually things that I only cooked occasionally due to time or complexity.
One year I asked Paul what he wanted, and he pointed out his Mom used to make a lentil casserole that he loved and wanted for his birthday dinner the following year. Like any good wife, I send a note to his mother Mona. Happy thoughts of recreating his special childhood meal in mind, I eagerly waited for the recipe. She responded with, “I don’t remember making any lentil casserole.” Oh boy! During her visit that year the three of us discussed the lentil casserole that he remembered. While she still didn’t recall having a recipe for it, or even remember making it, I got enough information out of Paul (what he remembered it tasted like) and his mom Mona (what she vaguely recalled of casseroles when he was young) to make an attempt.
Let’s just say that first iteration sucked. Really. No fault to Paul or to his Mom, it was all mine. I simply had never cooked lentils, nor did I really like them much myself. They tasted bad to me and it colored my ability to taste test the recipe with any quality control. He recalled nothing more than lentils, sausage and cheese. Yeah…. not so much help. What kind of sausage, what kind of cheese, what kind of lentils, what stock, what veggies if any? My list of questions got longer.
I spent the next year researching lentils and a variety of lentil recipes hoping to find something that would be more edible and flavorful than the first batch. This particular recipe is the result of 10 years of trying to figure it out. It isn’t his Mom’s recipe as much as I wished it was. I never did get it out of her, and she always kept saying she didn’t have one. And while this one is good, and Paul likes it, I know it isn’t the same as much as I would like it to be. In the end, it is simply good and that will have to do.
Suggested substitutions
In addition to using canned goods in this recipe, which you certainly can do to reduce cooking and prep time, you can also replace the cheeses and the spice for a different flavor. Use Greek seasoning or old bay instead of Italian. Use simple parsley if you like. As for cheese, try cream cheese, blue cheese, mozzarella or provolone. You can even add a little parmesan. Swap out the Italian sausage for hot, or ground turkey or pork or even beef. Add some other veggies if you like! I have added celery, diced tomatoes, even capers. It will all work just as well and can be tailored to your personal tastes.