French Puy Lentil Salad

This is a recipe from Christian Juergens from Restaurant Überfahrt, Rottach-Egern. He is a 2 Michellin star Chef.

The only thing I changed were the pickled white little onions because I am not a huge fan of them. Buying a whole jar would not make sense, the rest would see the bin. I used cornichons instead, these are the small French pickled gherkins and they have the taste I love, crunchy and vinegary.

The lentils take a while to get soft, so start your cooking a bit earlier then the rest of the dish you are going to serve. The salad sits on a bed of arugula / rocket salad. That is one salad I always think of Bunny food and the strong flavour is not one of my favourite ones. But the combination of dark earthy lentils and the nutty salad works quite well.

recipe for 4:
160 g Puy lentils
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tsp runny honey
5 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 bunch parsley
3 stalks tarragon
2 spring onions
4 tbsp cornichons
1 bunch arugula
salt and white pepper

Cook the lentils in unsalted water for 25 min. Drain and run under cold water.
Chop the spring onions in small rings ( I like to blanch them the last 30  seconds with the lentils)
Cut off the stems of the rocket salad - nothing worse than having them between your teeth or hanging out of your mouth.

Make the dressing and mix in the lentils/onions and let then sit for 15 min to absorb the flavour.