Another new recipe that I had time to try out over Christmas, from 100 Hot and Spicy Sauces
A fairly robust sauce, serve with boiled gammon or bacon joints, pork or chicken breasts.
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 red onion, quartered
1 fresh medium-hot red chilli, or pureed and sieved 1 dried guindilla chilli (I used ancho)
4 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons of olive oil
225g (8oz) smoked ham or bacon
400g (14oz) green lentils with juice (waitrose canned verte lentils or sainsbury's or tesco's green lentils)
pinch of saffron threads (I forgot to add this time!)
salt and freshly ground black pepper (I used smoked bacon, which is salty enough and no salt really needs to be added!)
150 ml (5 fl oz) water or splash of red wine
Place the garlic, onion, chilli and mint in a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
Heat the oil in a wok or deep sided pan and stir-fry the processed mixture with the ham for 1-2 minutes.
Season to taste.
I served this with boiled gammon (add celery, peppercorns, bay leaf to water) and mustard mash. Next time will try with chicken breasts and adding some boiled carrots as a side dish.
Cooking for Hippos 