Small green lentils simmered with carrots, onion and thyme, served with smoked pork sausage and grainy mustard. French winter comfort food, made here with kolbassa from the deli case standing in for Morteau.
I'm Alsatian, and smoked sausages with lentils is the kind of dish we eat all winter in eastern France. I grew up with it, always with a Morteau or a Montbéliard in the pot. It sounds simple, and it is, but in Canada both the sausage and the lentils are different.
Here, if a European butcher near you makes a raw smoked sausage in the Morteau style, buy that. If you can't find one, I use kolbassa from the supermarket deli case: it's softer and more garlicky than a Morteau and gives less of itself to the lentils, but the smoke is there and the dish still tastes like home. The lentils are the bigger trap: the big green ones most stores stock fall apart, so I look for the small ones.
Morteau, Montbéliard and a pot of lentils
Smoked pork sausages, usually Morteau or Montbéliard from Franche-Comté next door to Alsace, are cooked slowly with small green lentils, carrot, onion and herbs. The lentils soak up the smoke and fat from the sausage. It's served with strong mustard and a glass of white wine.
How soupy should it be?
Each lentil should be tender but whole, in a little thick, glossy broth: not a soup and not a purée. Taste them at 20 minutes, because they go from firm to mush faster than you'd think.
Making it in Canada
The 2 French ingredients, and what to buy for them in Canada.
Saucisse de Morteau ou de Montbéliard→Smoked kolbassa (Polish sausage)
Kolbassa is coarse smoked pork with garlic, closest in taste to Montbéliard. It's already cooked, so it only needs 15 to 20 minutes in the lentils. If a deli sells a raw smoked sausage, poach it 30 minutes just below a simmer before adding it.
🛒 Piller's Kolbassa (375 g) is at Metro and Loblaws. Schneiders Kolbassa rings (300 g) are at Voilà (Sobeys) and Walmart. Both are in the deli section.
Lentilles vertes du Puy→Small "French green" lentils
Small green lentils stay whole. Large green lentils, the most common bag in Canada, collapse into a purée in the same time. If you can't find small green ones, black beluga lentils also hold their shape.
🛒 Small French green lentils aren't a regular supermarket line: check the natural-foods aisle and bulk bins, and read the label for 'French green' or 'du Puy-style'. If only the large khaki green lentils are on the shelf, use black beluga lentils instead.
Good to know: If you live near a Polish, Ukrainian or German deli, buy the sausage there: the selection of properly smoked pork sausages is far better than at the supermarket.
Ready to cook?
Sausages with Lentils
Saucisses aux lentilles
Small green lentils simmered with carrots, onion and thyme, served with smoked pork sausage and grainy mustard. French winter comfort food, made here with kolbassa from the deli case standing in for Morteau.
Prep time
20 min
Cook time
50 min
Total time
1 hr 10 min
Servings
4
Ingredients
Original recipe: 4 servings.
Instructions
Brown the base. In a large pot, cook the bacon (if using) in the butter over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and carrots and cook 5 minutes more, until soft.
Add the lentils. Stir in the lentils and garlic, then add the water or broth, the clove-studded onion half, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a simmer.
Simmer. Cover partly and simmer gently 20 minutes. Don't boil hard: boiling bursts the lentils.
Add the sausage. Prick the sausages a few times with a fork and lay them on the lentils. If you bought a raw smoked sausage from a butcher, poach it first for 30 minutes in a separate pot of water just below a simmer, then add it here. Cover and cook 15–20 minutes more, until the lentils are tender but whole and the sausage is hot through. If the pot gets dry, add a splash of water.
Season and serve. Remove the onion, bay leaf and thyme stems. Season with pepper, and salt only if needed. Slice the sausages thickly and serve on the lentils with parsley and mustard.
Equipment
Staub 5.5 L round cocotte: A heavy pot keeps the simmer gentle, which is what stops the lentils from bursting.
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Notes
Even better the next day. Keeps 3 days in the fridge; reheat with a splash of water until steaming. Health Canada's safe minimum for reheated leftovers is 74°C (165°F).
Leftover lentils make a good cold salad with mustard vinaigrette and shallot.
If the lentils are tender but still swimming, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes to reduce the broth.
Maille Old Style (à l'ancienne) is listed at Voilà (Sobeys) in 200 and 500 mL jars.
Course: Mains · Cuisine: French · Adapted for Canadian kitchens
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