- 4 1/4 cups water, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 cup wild rice (about 6 ounces)
- 2 whole cloves
- 1/2 onion, peeled
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium carrot, peeled, halved crosswise
- 1 celery stalk, halved crosswise
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 ounces 1/4-inch-thick pancetta (Italian bacon), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup dried French green lentils*
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
It starts off with the rice. Because I didn't have enough wild rice, I used half wild rice and half basmati rice. I brought 2 1/2 cups of water with 1/2 tsp salt to a boil, added the rice, then simmered, covered, until al dente.
The recipe says to stuff the cloves into the onion, to sautee the veggies whole, and remove them later. I thought that would be a waste of nutrition, texture, and colour, so I diced up part of a red onion as well as the celery and carrots, sauteed them with the cloves, then added (minced) garlic and sauteed a little longer. Added the pancetta, fried for a few minutes. Added the lentils with 2 cups of water + a bay leaf, brought to a simmer, and cooked it until the lentils were cooked through but not mushy. Finally, the cooked rice was added to the lentil pot, seasoned to taste, and garnished with freshly chopped parsley.
All in all a pretty tasty dish - hearty, aromatic, savory. I wasn't particularly impressed by the pancetta, though that might be due to the fact that I used a low grade pancetta. Either way, I think this could easily become a healthier vegetarian dish by replacing the pancetta and water with mushroom broth.