Venison Sausage With Braised Lentils

Created By: Sophie Wright
Difficutly: moderate
Time: 30 Min
Portion: 2 servings
Ingredients:

6 medium venison sausages

2 medium red onions

1 medium sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

350 g lentils, washed in cold water

3 medium cloves of garlic

100 g smoked bacon, cubed

100 ml red wine

500 ml chicken stock

Directions:

1. Step 1: Brown the sausages

   Before you begin, preheat your oven to 180C.
   Heat up a frying pan and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil. When it's hot, add the venison sausages and cook them just enough to give them some colour on all sides. You're not trying to cook them through; that will happen later in the oven.

   Once they've got some colour, remove the venison sausages from the pan and set them to one side.

2. Step 2: Make the sauce

   Into the same pan add 100g bacon or lardon cut into small pieces, 2 sliced red onions and 3 sliced cloves of garlic.
   Add 350g washed lentils to the mix. Stir it around to coat everything in the pan juices.
   Add 1 bay leaf, a sprig of thyme and a couple of twists of black pepper – but no salt at this stage as it will dry out the lentils.
   Now add a splash of red wine. Allow it to reduce then pour in enough veg or chicken stock to cover the lentils.

3. Step 3: Oven-cook

   Add the venison sausages back on top of the lentils, cover the pan with foil and cook in the preheated oven for 20 mins. Check the dish after 10 minutes. If the stock is being absorbed too quickly add another splash.

Notes:
When the dish is cooked, season with salt and a bit more pepper.Serve with broccoli on the side.