Lentil dish with spaetzle

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 300 g lentils, brown
• 1 liter vegetable broth
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion(s)
• 1 stalk(s) leek
• 2 carrots
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ¼ liter white wine
• 1 lemon(s), juice
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp flour
• 4 tbsp honey
• 6 tbsp vinegar (fruit)
• 200 g spaetzle
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Rinse the lentils and cook in the vegetable stock for 40 minutes (they will continue to simmer with the vegetables), adding more water if necessary. Clean and dice the vegetables, then fry in butter in a pan until translucent. Stir in the tomato paste. Deglaze with the wine and lemon juice. Add to the lentils. Mix the sour cream with the flour until smooth and thicken the lentils. Season with honey, vinegar, salt, and pepper. The right sweetness/sourness is key. It requires a little sensitivity and is somehow always different. Continue simmering the lentils until the spaetzle are done. Prepare the spaetzle. If you’re making them yourself—Chefkoch has some great recipes for this—you should of course have the dough ready beforehand, as it needs to rise. This recipe has been one of my classics for many years, as I enjoy lentils. Even during my meat-eating years, I made it regularly and kept a supply of it.