The Lentils come out creamy and well seasoned because you prepare them Thomas Keller Style. Cooked with onion, thyme, carrot, s&p and the trick is a little vinegar for tenderness and infusing the flavor. I added balsamic after the lentils were cooked. They were delicious just like that but I added Kumatoes that are

 

better than your average forking store tomato and roasted them with sweet black garlic. The sweet black garlic doesn’t taste like garlic it’s more of a smokey prune kind of taste.

 

I also roasted up some super sweet baby bell peppers and added some fresh chopped scallions.

I made a big batch of lentils and froze some, left some plain in the fridge for adding to salads and only needed a heaping cup of them cooked for this recipe.

Basic almost (Thomas Keller Style Way) of doing lentils

For about 2 lbs of lentils.

I added them to my sauce pan and added enough water to cover them well.

about 1 teaspoon kosher salt

about 1/2 teaspoon pepper ( I used Aleppo this time)

about 1 teaspoon dried thyme (you should use fresh sprig but I didn’t have one)

one carrot or a parsnip (to be tossed out after cooking because it’s flavorless now)

1/2 large red onion or a forking leek if you prefer (to be forking tossed out after cooking)

Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cover for about 15 minutes or until tender. Mine soaked up all the water and were perfect so I didn’t drain. Discard onion and carrot. Add two big splashes of balsamic vinegar and set a side and let cool.

Now roast up your chopped 5 or 6 kumatoes or good tomatoes and place on pan with your pealed 2-3 heads of black garlic and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Set your oven to 375 degrees for roasting.

 

Get about 9 baby bell peppers.

Chop them into rings and place on baking pan, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and place in oven with your tomatoes.

The peppers will take around 25 minutes and the kumatoes with black garlic will take about 35 minutes.

Now with a spoon mixed up the roasted tomatoes with black garlic mixing the garlic up into the mixture.

Season both pans with fresh ground sea salt and fresh black pepper.

Add your kumato/black garlic mixture to a heaping cup of prepared black beluga lentils.

Top with the roasted baby bells and fresh cut scallions.