Bacon dumplings on warm lentil salad

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 200 g lentils (Puy lentils)
• 2 shallots
• Thyme
• Bay leaf
• 4 spring onions
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Sugar
• 10 slices of toast
• 200 g bacon
• 100 g butter
• Parsley
• 200 ml milk
• 2 eggs

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan, add a finely chopped shallot, and sauté until translucent. Pour in the vegetable stock. Add the Puy lentils, a bay leaf, and a sprig of thyme, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Add more vegetable stock if desired. Slice the spring onions into rings. Ten minutes before the end of cooking, add the white rings. Season with balsamic vinegar and sugar. Turn off the heat under the lentils, remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs, add the green spring onion rings, and let the dish cool slightly. Cut 10 slices of toast into small cubes and place in a bowl. Melt 50g of butter in a pan, sauté a finely chopped shallot until translucent, add the very finely diced bacon, and sauté until cooked through. Add 3 tablespoons of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley and stir the parsley in the hot pan for a few seconds. Pour the mixture onto the slices of toast. Heat the milk and whisk well with the two eggs. Pour the hot egg wash onto the dumpling mixture, press everything down lightly with the back of your hand, and let it stand for 10 minutes. Do not add salt! Then stir the mixture gently; do not knead it too hard. Divide the mixture into two portions, shape each portion into a thick sausage, and place it on a piece of cling film. Wrap the sausage tightly in the cling film. Hold the sausage upright and tap it lightly from above to prevent air pockets from forming. Then wrap the sausages tightly in tin foil and place them in boiling water. The dumpling sausages should only boil for a few seconds, then immediately reduce the heat and let the dumplings sit in the hot water for at least 20 minutes. Arrange the lukewarm lentils on plates, unwrap the dumplings, slice them, and place them on top of the lentils. The dumplings can be left wrapped in hot water for up to two hours without changing any further and are therefore easy to prepare.