This recipe for Sausage, Lentil and Chickpea Stew is a quicker version which adds chickpeas and tinned tomatoes. If you can find plump Italian sausages with a thick grain, they will hold together well, but any good-quality sausages without too much heavy flavouring will do. Just buy the best you can find and afford. I cook dried lentils in the sauce as I usually have these to hand, but you could also use pre-cooked or tinned lentils if you’re short of time – simply shorten the cooking time by 10 minutes and add the precooked chickpeas at the same time. Eaten piping hot from a bowl and topped with a light dusting of parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil, this is comfort food at its best.
Sausage, Lentil and Chickpea Stew Recipe
Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
6 large organic pork sausages olive oil
1 onion (red, golden or white all fine), finely diced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, grated
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
A few rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped
1 glass red wine
1 teaspoon tomato concentrate
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
200 ml (7 fl oz) water or stock
400 g (14 oz) tin peeled plum tomatoes
200 g (7 oz) small black or green dried lentils
2 × 400 g (14 oz) tins giant chickpeas
Finely chopped flat-leaf parsley grated parmesan
Olive oil
Method:
Remove the skins from the sausages. In a heavy-based frying pan, heat a few glugs of olive oil until sizzling. Add the sausages, breaking each up into four large chunks with the end of a wooden spoon, and brown over a medium–high heat for 3–5 minutes, until they have a little colour – don’t worry if they break into smaller pieces. If they release lots of liquid, wait for this to evaporate and then brown. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.
Turn down the heat and add the onion to the pan, along with a pinch of salt; there should be plenty of fat in the pan from the sausages. Leave to cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic, carrot, celery and rosemary and leave to gently cook for 5 minutes. If the sausage fat starts catching or browning the veg too much, stir in a splash of the wine to deglaze the pan and stop them burning.
Add the sausages back to the pan with the wine, tomato concentrate and chilli flakes, if using. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan, then leave the alcohol to evaporate for 5 minutes.
Stir in the water or stock, along with the tinned tomatoes. Fill the empty tomato tin with water, swirl it around and pour the tomatoey water into the pan, adding a generous pinch of salt. Break up the tomatoes with the end of a wooden spoon. Stir in the lentils and leave to cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Open the tins of chickpeas and empty the contents into the stew. Stir together, then leave to gently bubble over a low heat, uncovered, for another 20–25 minutes. If the pan looks like it is drying out, stir in a splash more wine or water. The stew is ready when it is thick and rich and the lentils are completely cooked.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve piping hot, with a sprinkling of parsley, a grating of parmesan and a drizzle more olive oil.
Winter in Tuscany by Amber Guinness, published by Thames & Hudson Australia, AUD $64.99 / NZD $69.99, published 2 September 2025. Images © Valentina Solfrini.
