Spinach Pesto

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Ingredients

8 servings

500 g
400 g
800 g Red lentils (dried)
Spinach
Canned peaches
Naan bread 800 ml
600 ml
4 TBL sp
6 tea sp
2 tea sp
30 g
2
2
2 cloves Coconut milk
Bouillon
Red curry paste
Sambal
Sugar
Ginger
Lime
Red onion
Garlic

Variation

Add the spinach leaves in the curry if you prefer them cooked over fresh.

Prep

5 min

1. Cut onion in rings
2. Mince garlic
3. Cut ginger finely
4. Cut peaches in cubes

Make it a dinner party

Make your own naan bread

For 16 pieces mix 800 g self-raising flour with 500 g (soy) yogurt and knead to a dough. If it’s still sticky add a little extra flour.

Roll the dough to flat pieces with a thickness of 0,5 cm.

Mix 16 TBL sp olive oil with 4 minced garlic cloves.

Heat the frying pan as much as possible and bake the dough 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Add oil on top and turn to bake the other side. 

Cook

25 min

Sauté onion, garlic, ginger, sambal and red curry paste

medium/high heat ~3 min

Tip: add spices before adding sauce

Sauteing spices before adding liquid allows the flavours to develop. Saute for about 1 minute, until you can smell the spices. Doing it for too long will burn the spices.

Add bouillon

wait until it cooks again, stir well so the curry paste dissolves ~2 min

Add coconut milk, lentils and sugar

simmer ~15 min, season with salt and pepper

Why red lentils are awesome

A sustainable diet includes lots of legumes like beans, peas, and lentils. Dry legumes become especially tasty because they can take up flavours while cooking. The downside is that it takes a while, but that’s different for red lentils: they only take 15 minutes!

Bake naan bread in the grill

~2 min each side until golden brown

Add lime juice and peaches

simmer until warm ~5 min

Always add acidity towards the end

Adding something sour – vinegar, lime or lemon juice – to a meal usually improves all flavours. It’s like adding salt. It’s especially effective for meals containing fat, in this case the coconut milk.

The key is adding it towards the end. If you add it at the beginning, the extra flavour will be cooked away.

How the sweetness of fruits brings more taste to a meal

Food comes in five flavours: salty/umami, sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. Often the key to a delicious meal is adding as many of them as possible. This creates a nice balance and more interesting flavours. That’s why fruits, with their sweetness, can make a dish more delicious.

Serve dahl with fresh spinach and bread on the side

The naan bread recipe is inspired by Uit Pauline’s keuken Naanbrood van 2 ingrediënten.