Arguiñano’s tips to cook lentils faster in just 15 minutes

As cold weather approaches, classic preparations like stew They’re starting to fill the weekly menus of spoon-dish lovers. Beans, noodles, vegetables, meat, chicken and even fish are endless options for cooking delicious hot dishes at home.this Lentils with vegetablesalso served with sausage, ham or other toppings, is a classic of Spanish cuisine, a very simple recipe that almost everyone loves.

Although this is a very simple preparation, the lentils take up more of our time than we would like.especially if we don’t remember Soak them the day beforer, something that always cuts down on cooking time.he Chef Carlos AguignanoA big fan of this recipe and an expert in traditional home cooking, he has his secrets for delicious lentil dishes Only 15 minutes cooking time And there’s no need to soak the beans for hours.

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Time doesn’t have to be a factor stopping us from cooking delicious homemade lentils. Chef Karlos Arguiñano often prepares this stew on his TV show and has created several versions using a variety of ingredients. In these shows, Aguignano cooks lentils in a regular pot, but as he admitted in one episode, At home, he usually makes it in a pressure cooker.a tool that allows you to cook them in less time.

If using a regular pot, this process takes about 45 or 50 minutes, if using pressure cooker can be realised Only takes 15 minutes. Both methods of cooking lentils result in the same final taste, character, and texture. The only difference is the time we spend cooking. Of course, in addition to the 15 minutes of cooking in the pressure cooker, we have to add about 10 minutes to make the sauce that will add flavor to the lentils.

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In one of his shows, the host and chef explained Precise measurement of water What do lentils need to grow? At this point, there is neither water nor dryness. The creamy texture of lentils makes them one of the favorite dishes of children and adults, so using too much water or running out of liquid can have a devastating effect on the results.

“Lentils absorb a lot of liquid. You have to put a lot of water in,” warns Argignano. If we make it in an ordinary pot and a pressure cooker, the amounts are different. In the first case, if we are not in a hurry, we can do it little by little. The chef recommends adding five cups of water to each cup of lentils. “If you do in pressure cookergo through “Amount of lentils, three glasses of water”disclose

Also, on this show, the chef admits another trick to fix recipe problems if we make a mistake with the amount of water: “If you use too much water, they become very liquid and don’t have the water they need. Characteristic creamy texture. One trick is to take a portion of lentils and vegetables, crush them and then Add puree to stew, stir the pan until completely combined. “

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Serving size: 4 people

raw material:

• 300 g lentils
• 1 red onion
• 1 green pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 leek
• 2 carrots
• 250 g spinach
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt

Detailed description:

1. Peel and dice the garlic cloves and onion and sauté in a slow cooker with a little olive oil.
2. We clean the leeks, removing the bottom, top and first layer. We cut it into quarter moons and add it to the sauce. We peel the carrots, cut them into small pieces and add them. We do the same with green peppers.
3. Sauté the vegetables for about 5 minutes.
4. We cut the tomatoes in half, grate them and add them to the pot. Let’s fry a little more and then add the lentils. Season generously with two handfuls of salt and cover with plenty of water.
5. We close the pot and cook the lentils for 15 minutes from the moment the valve is raised. When the valve drops, we open the pot.
6. Finally, we wash the spinach, remove the stems and chop it finely. Without turning off the heat, add the spinach and lentils to the boiling pot and cook for 3-4 minutes.