The change of the seasons has also, quite a visible influence on what we eat. We will rather replace the cold gazpacho with something warm: soups, stocks and stewed vegetables will appear on the table more often. Lentils are a classic in every Spanish house and there are a million ways to prepare it, because every housewife has her secret tricks. We will present you the easiest and most popular variants, starting with the most basic and, by the way, the most economical one.

When it comes to lentils, theoretically, you can use 0.5 kg for the given proportions of vegetables, but since it is an economic option, we gave 1 kg and it was also delicious. We used dry lentils, but in Spanish shops you can buy precooked ones everywhere. The prices are very similiar, but we are slowly giving up processed (in any way) food, so this time we chose dry lentils. We soaked it the whole night, but remember it needs minimum 4 hours and maximum 12. We drained and rinsed the lentils, do not use the same water you used to soak it overnight.

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Lentejas guisadas / viudas - stewed lentils with vegetables

COST: EUR 5 8L - 8 meals for 2 people (to be honest we also gave some of it to our friends so in the end there are even more portions for that price)

Lentils 0.5 kg (1 kg in the economical version)

Green pepper 1 kg (I used the so-called „peppers for frying” because it cost only EUR 0.59)

2 large onions

Carrots 0.5 kg

1 large leek (visible in the photos)

Potatoes 5-6 large

Tomato sauce (tomates fritos) 400-500ml or fresh tomatoes 0.8 kg

olive oil

Garlic 5-6 cloves

Bay leaves

salt

Pepper

Sweet pepper

Allspice * - only if we want to add a little Polish flavor, it does not exist in the Spanish version

Dice all vegetables, fry everything in a pan in olive oil (we always fry onion with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper), we can start with carrots, then add peppers, and finally leeks and onion. After about 7 minutes, add the pressed (of finely chopped) garlic. Fry for a while and add the diced, peeled tomatoes. If you prefer to use ready-made tomato sauce, add the sauce instead of tomatoes, if you have homemade, it's even better. Fry everything for a few more minutes.

In a large pot (we have one of 10 liters and it is perfect for these proportions), mix the rinsed lentils and washed, diced potatoes, pour cold water (about 2 cm above the vegetables) or if you prefer you can use broth. Add bay leaves, salt and freshly ground pepper (with allspice * if you decide to use it as well). Cook covered for 25 - 30 minutes, then add the remaining, previously fried vegetables. Season with sweet red pepper and cook for another 20 minutes. Dry lentils take about 50 minutes to be ready. Of course, we serve it hot. Enjoy your meal!

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Tricks and some advice!

If you are using boiled lentils, pour water over it and heat it up immediately with all vegetables except potatoes. Boil the diced potatoes separately, then add them to the rest and stew it all together for about 10-15 minutes.

Remember that this dish is cheap and you can allow yourself some freedom in terms of proportions and add, for example, more potatoes or onions and less tomatoes. If we have red pepper at hand and not green, we can of course use it too!

If you prefer the meat version, as popular in Spain as the vegetarian one, put some good bones and 2 whole chorizo ​​and blood sausage into the cold water in which the lentils with potatoes will be boiled. Chorizo ​​is a typical Spanish sausage with a very specific and strong taste. You can also add bacon or lard, that's just up to you and your taste.

If, like us, you are trying to eat healthy but cheaply, when the dish starts to run out, you can cheat a little and dilute it with tomates fritos (tomato sauce) or add a few more potatoes, thus making a magical multiplication 🙂