Bacon & Lentil Individual Pot Pies

Bacon & Lentil Individual Pot Pies

Little pots filled with bacon and lentils cooked with onions, bay leaves and a little red wine and covered with butter puff pastry.

This may be comfort food, but I see a little ray of sunshine letting the new season in.

Ingredients

Makes 6 small pies or 1 medium-large sized one

1 pack dry cured bacon (I used one from Richard Bosman), diced

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 T olive oil

2 bay leaves

2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste

400 g cooked lentils, drained if using a can

2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped finely

50 ml red wine

100 ml vegetable or chicken stock (I used NoMu Fond mixed with warm water)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 egg yolk

1 roll butter puff pastry, kept cold in the fridge until you need to use it.

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

In a pan on the stove, fry the bacon till starting to crisp. Remove and drain the oil in the pan. (You may also use it instead of olive oil)

Add olive oil to same pan and saute onions. Add bay leaves.

Just as the onions start to get translucent add the garlic and tomatoes.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring.

Add the bacon, wine and stock and increase heat slightly.

Allow the mixture to thicken.

Add lentils in last few minutes and stir gently.

You may need to add a little water if too thick.

Add salt and pepper and remove the pot from the heat. Remove bay leaves.

Cut out pastry tops for the mini pie pots, if using. Allow an overlap. Mine never loop great during this phase.

Fill each pot with the bacon lentil mixture till the top.

Cover each pot with pastry circles and cinch around the edges.

Brush tops with egg yolk.

Bake the pot pies according to directions on your puff pastry pack – in my case 10 minutes at 200 degrees and 10 -1 5 minutes on 180 degrees. Do monitor progress.

For some reason, my butter puff did not rise as high as it usually does; was delectable anyway.

Serve warm.