Classic Spanish Lentil Stew | One of Spain´s Most Iconic Dishes

So today we are finally making what is considered to be one of the most classic and iconic dishes that hail from Spain and to be honest with you I cannot believe how long it's taken me to share this recipe with you but today we finally have it. We're talking a traditional Spanish lentil stew. Now this is a dish that's enjoyed all over Spain from restaurants to households and it's eaten all year round but it's extra special during the fall and winter seasons as it really warms your soul and it fills your body with so much goodness folks. This lentil stew is so easy to make. Like seriously you're not going to believe how simple it is to put together and the flavors are truly mind-blowing delicious. Let's begin by grabbing a large deep fry pan. You can also use a stock pot here if you prefer. Heat it with a medium heat and add in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil which is about 30 milliliters. Now the vegetables I'm going to use to make this lentil stew are the ones that are most typically used here in Spain when making this recipe but you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. The only recommendation I do make is make sure the potatoes you're using are more waxy than starchy. I'm using new potatoes that way when you're cooking the stew the potatoes don't get mushy and they keep their shape. All right let's move back to the fry pan. After heating the olive oil for about two minutes on a medium heat I'm going to add in half of an onion that I finely diced, half of a green and half of a red bell pepper that have been finely chopped and four cloves of garlic that have been roughly minced. And we'll mix the vegetables around that way they're all coated in that olive oil and as you know I always like to mix this continuously that way the vegetables evenly saute and they don't brown too quickly especially that garlic which can easily get a bitter flavor. Now some people like to add in a pork sausage into their lentil stew to give it more of a meaty flavor. If you'd like to do that this is the ideal time to add it in there. Just cut it into thin pieces that are a quarter inch thick which is a little over half a centimeter. After cooking the vegetables for about six minutes and they're lightly sauteed and the onion is translucent I'm going to add in one teaspoon of sweet smoked Spanish paprika which is 2.30 grams. This is known here in Spain as pimentón de la vera. And we'll give it a quick mix that way that paprika is coating all the vegetables and like I always tell you when you add in paprika into a hot pan you want to mix it in there quickly otherwise it can easily get a bitter flavor. And then we'll add in half a cup of tomato sauce which is 115 grams. We'll raise the heat from a medium heat to a medium high heat and we'll give this a quick mix and let that tomato sauce simmer for a couple minutes that way it can really thicken up. In the meantime let's get our lentils ready. I'm going to measure out one cup of uncooked ground lentils which is 210 grams. For this recipe you can also use black lentils or even green lentils but I don't recommend red lentils as they easily get mushy. I'm going to add in the lentils into a sieve and rinse them under some cold running water. After simmering the tomato sauce for about three minutes and you can see that it's really thickened up it's time to add in the rest of the ingredients. I'm going to add in the one cup of lentils into the pan along with two small potatoes or you can use one large one that's been cut into small pieces that are half an inch thick which is about one and a quarter centimeters and one carrot that's been peeled and cut into rounds that are a quarter inch thick which is a little over half a centimeter. Then we'll season with a generous portion of freshly cracked black pepper and we'll give this a mix until everything's evenly mixed together. Once everything is well mixed I'm going to add in five cups of vegetable broth which is 1150 milliliters. The broth that I'm using is homemade. You'll find the recipe on how to make in the i-card above and description box below or if you prefer you can also use water here and just add in a vegetable bouillon cube. We'll also add in one bay leaf and we'll give this a quick mix and continue to cook it on a medium high heat until that broth comes to a boil. Once the broth comes to a boil I'm going to place a lid on the pan and lower the fire to a low heat and we're going to simmer our stew on a low heat between 30 to 35 minutes. This is enough time for all the flavors to develop and for those lentils and those potatoes to be perfectly cooked and once again remember to use a low heat here. You don't want to use anything higher when you're cooking lentils otherwise they can split open and lose their beautiful shape. After about 35 minutes all these ingredients should be perfectly cooked. For the last step we're going to season our lentils with some sea salt and we'll give this a gentle mix and simmer it for another one to two minutes that way that sea salt can really incorporate into the stew and as you can see in this dish I seasoned at the end instead of at the beginning line because when you're working with lentils if you season them before they're cooked they're going to have a tough texture to them. After about two minutes I'm going to remove the pan from the heat and we'll transfer some of the lentil stew into a shallow bowl. Check it out our traditional Spanish lentil stew is done. This is known here in Spain as just lentejas. Nothing less, nothing more. Beautiful presentation, easy to make, but the beauty of this recipe is the texture of those lentil beans. They're not mushy, they kept their shape, but they're perfectly cooked through with the smell in your mouth. Let's give this dish a try and see how it turned out. As always folks this is what Spanish cuisine is all about. Here we go. It's absolutely beautiful. What can I say? You know for me when I eat lentils it's a taste of home. As a kid I used to eat it once a week and now as an adult here in my household we still eat it once a week. That's why I'm kind of surprised I haven't shared this recipe with you before but you know what better late than never. Try the Spanish lentil stew at home. It's very healthy for you and the flavors are truly mind-blowing delicious. One of the best recipes we've ever done here on the show. Really quick before I go, a shout out to a couple of my patrons Tommy Williams, Clarence Bolin, Martin Giddings, Aravinda Garimea and Robert Manahan. Again guys thank you so much for being patrons of Spain on a Fork. You know how much I appreciate you. For the rest of you, if you're not with me on Patreon and you'd like to support the show so I can continue to release videos like this, you'll find my Patreon in the description box below and iCard above. If you enjoyed today's video hit that like button. Leave me a comment below and if you're not subscribed you know what to do. Smash that subscribe button. Till the next time. Hasta luego. Alright folks it is a wrap. Truly one of the most classic and iconic dishes from Spain. Lentejas. So good. Easy to make. Simple ingredients. Try this at home. You're going to absolutely love it. See you in the next video.