Warm Lentil “Salad” with Lardons, Peas, and Egg

Salad? Is this really a salad? I have no idea. But the original idea was. The idea was to cool the lentils then toss in the lardon mixture and top with the egg to make a warm dish, but, in the end, I was so hungry that I tossed everything together and ate it hot. And it was really really good.

The saltiness of the lardons, the crunch of the lightly cooked fresh peas, the runny egg yolk… the combination was amazing.

Fresh Peas?? Well, I used fresh peas because they gave a kind of bitter sweet crunch when they were just barely cooked. It added a nice contrast to this dish. Of course, if all you have is frozen peas, by all means, use them, but toss them in at the very end.

Warm Lentil “Salad” with Lardons, Peas, and Egg

Serves 4

1 cup Uncooked Lentils (about 4 cups cooked)

1 1/2 liters Water

1 Large Onion

3 cloves Garlic

1 cup Lardons (or sliced thick cut bacon, or pancetta)

1 cup Fresh Green Peas

Salt and Pepper to taste

Olive Oil

4 Eggs

Put lentils in a large pot, and cover with about 1 1/2 liters of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 30-45 minutes, until tender but not mushy. Drain and set aside.

In a large pan, add about 1 tbsp of olive oil and the lardons. Cook until the fat of the lardons starts of melt and they start to brown. Add the onions and the garlic and cook until the onions soften. Add the green peas and cook for about 1 minute. Then toss in the lentils. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook the eggs sunny side up (in a hot pan, add a little olive oil, crack the egg into the pan, salt and pepper the egg, and cook until the white is cooked but the yolk is still soft).

Spoon the lentil mixture onto a plate, top with the sunny side up egg, and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.