flylow

• 400g dry lentils
• one onion
• some oil
• water, around 2 liters for cooking, some running for the cleaning and rinsing, enough for the pasta
• a stove
• a wooden spoon
• a knife
• a big pot (3 liters)
• another big pot (5 or more liters)
• a colander
• Suppengrün: that is a bunch of carrot, celery root, onion, parsley, a length of leek
• 300g pork belly
• a leaf of dried bay laurel (f★★★ you Jamie Oliver!)
• 100g flour per person plus some more
• some butter
• a small pot
• 1 egg per person
• a bowl
• a fridge
• salt
• enough smoked Vienna sausages
• a Spätzlepresse (sparrow press - don't ask!)
• something to get the Spätzle out of boiling water without getting hurt - a spider…
• vinegar

• 30 minutes on day one, 2 hours or so on day two

1. rinse the lentils.
2. cut the onion into small pieces and tan them in the small big pot with a little bit of oil.
3. add the lentils, stirr.
4. add 2 liters of water.
5. boil for like 1 second, then turn off the heat and leave the lentils soaking over night.

1. clean and slice the celery, carrot and leek into dice-sized pieces.
2. put the pieces, the laurel and the pork belly into the small big pot
3. put to the boil and leave simmering for one to two hours
4. per person 100g flour, 1 egg, some salt and the right amount of water, into the bowl.
5. stir with the wooden spoon until you have Spätzleteig - some unnecessary violence may be necessary towards the end when we're expecting small bubbles of air in the dough; maybe you have a well-trained, quite physical man in your household that will be happy to show off;)
6. leave the dough resting, maybe in the fridge.
7. put plenty of water and plenty of salt into the big big pot and heat up - the water must not boil, just simmer or you will wind up with something else than Spätzle.
8. add the sausages to the lentils.
9. now comes the messy part: use the Spätzlepresse to put a Spätzlepresse-ful of dough into the simmering water.
10. when the Spätzle come buoy to the surface, pray two Ave Maria, then you may remove the Spätzle using the spider. Put them into the colander and maybe cover them with a plate or so to keep them from drying out.
11. repeat the two steps above until you have used up all dough, after that you can remove the big big pot from the stove.
12. clean and hack the parsley.
13. add it to the lentils.
14. prepare some roux blanc in the small pot and add it to the lentils. Seriously, I never do that because I'm perfectly incapable of creating a satisfying result (you see, I didn't say fsck). It's not necesary, yet nice to have.
15. stir the lentils once, then add spices.
16. remove the pot from the stove.
17. add vinegar to make the lentils a wee bit sour. Or just leave that up to your guests by serving the vinegar asides.
18. remove the laurel.
19. serve hot, Spätzle first, the same amount of lentils on top, and a piece of meat/sausage.

• imnsho you need to soak the lentils a day before. Sucicidal sh** like “an hour simmering is totaly enough” or “even quicker in a pressure cooker” lead to unbearable stomach pain and cramps and I do not wish to repeat that experience, ever. If you're into it though, go ahead, I warned you.
• tastes even better if heated up again the next day.
• CAREFUL - EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE!

General Caution is advised!