I came to know that lentils are served in Italy for good luck on New Year. That is it, I had to blog about this pasta dish I make regularly, for DelMonte cooking contest. I could use all the luck I can get for winning this one, what with all the amazing cooks across the world wide web.
Lentils are power houses of nutrition. Especially if you are a vegetarian or a vegan or want to have a meat free meal with good quality protein, then lentils are the way to go. Lentils in some shape or form appears daily on our plates. My blog has a good collection of recipes with lentils, whole and split and sprouts.
I have substituted whole organic masoor dal as we do not get the Italian (Puy or Umbrian varieties) here in Bangalore. The picture and the description matched that of whole masoor. We also like the delicate nutty taste of whole masoor when cooked, in addition to the fact that it gets cooked very fast.
Here I have lentils for the protein, corn for the vegetable and a favorite with kids and of course, the star of the dish - the pasta. Butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice add all the oomph. I generally use my pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time and save on the fuel. All the ingredients in the pressure cooker, 2 whistles on medium high. Voila, you have an easy, tasty and a healthy dish that goes on the serving table in 15 minutes with minimal preparation. In fact, taking the pictures for boasting take more time than cooking and eating.
Serve it as breakfast, as an evening snack or in the lunch box, which ever way you want. Get back the cleanly licked box/bowl as a bonus.
