Ravensburger "Sour Lentils with Spätzle"

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 100 g lentils, dried
• 300 g water
• 6 g chicken stock powder
• 300 g tomatoes
• 30 g carrot(s)
• 4 g salt
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Cinnamon stick(s), approx. 8 cm
• 6 cloves
• 1 tbsp oregano, dried
• 2 bay leaves
• 40 g smoked bacon, lean
• 4 small onions, red
• 2 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 smoked Bockwurst
• 1 piece(s) carrot(s), approx. 4 cm long
• e.g. salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, size S
• e.g. wheat flour or spelt flour
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1 pinch(s) white pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 13 hours 20 minutes

A Swabian main meal, served with a smoked Bockwurst.

Weigh the lentils, wash them until the water runs clear, and then strain them. Heat the water to lukewarm and dissolve the chicken stock in it. Add the lentils and let them soak overnight. Use 100g of this stock and discard the rest. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, halve them lengthwise, and remove the green stem end. Halve the halves lengthwise and crosswise. Place them in a blender with the stock water and salt and puree for 1 minute at full speed. Place in a casserole dish. Cut a 4cm long piece off a carrot and process it into thin strands. Add the lentils along with all the ingredients, from red wine vinegar to bay leaves, and bring to a simmer with the lid on. Cut the bacon into small cubes. Trim both ends of the onions and garlic cloves, peel them, and roughly chop them. Fry the bacon in the sunflower oil until fragrant, then add the onions and garlic and fry until they start to brown. Add to the lentils along with the oil. Crack the eggs and whisk well with the salt and pepper. Stir in enough flour to form a sluggish, runny dough. Bring a tall pot of salted water to a boil and then scrape the dough into the boiling water using a spaetzle shovel or spaetzle grater or a board. As soon as the dough floats to the top, strain it through a slotted sieve, rinse briefly, add it to a pan and fry briefly in the sunflower oil. 8 minutes before the end, remove the cloves from the lentils. Season with salt and pepper. Add the sausages and carrot threads. Divide the spaetzle between the serving plates, add the lentils and finish each with a sausage. Serve hot and enjoy.