Ingredients

• knob of butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion
• finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• finely sliced
• 150g/5½oz pancetta
• diced
• 1 small carrot
• finely chopped
• 1 stick celery
• finely chopped
• ¼ leek
• finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 300g/10½oz Puy lentils
• 175ml/6fl oz red wine
• 450ml/16fl oz dark chicken stock
• 2 tbsp good sherry vinegar
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 4 slices pancetta
• cooked
• 2 tbsp parsley cress
• 400g/14oz monkfish tails
• trimmed
• skinned and filleted
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

• For the classic French lentils
• heat a sauté pan or a large frying pan and then add the butter and oil. Once hot
• add the onion and cook for two minutes. Add the garlic
• diced pancetta
• carrot
• celery
• leek and bay leaf and cook for a further two minutes.
• Add the lentils and red wine and bring to the boil. Cook until the volume of wine has reduced by half
• then add the stock and cook the lentils for 25-30 minutes. Mix in the sherry vinegar and parsley.
• For the monkfish
• season the monkfish fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Heat a frying pan until smoking
• add the olive oil and monkfish and cook on each side for 1-2 minutes
• or until the crust is golden-brown and the fish is cooked through. Remove from the pan and rest on a warm plate for 2-3 minutes
• then thickly slice into four pieces.
• To serve
• place a spoonful of the lentils in each of four shallow serving bowls and place the sliced monkfish on top. Garnish with the sliced cooked pancetta and the parsley cress.