The Sardinian fregula with vegetables and lentils is a rich and flavorful one-dish meal: lots of tasty seasoned winter vegetables, legumes and this tiny, delightful pasta. You can make it vegetarian or vegan, or add smoked pancetta which goes very well. The Sardinian fregula with vegetables and lentils is perfect served hot or warm, as you prefer.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Low cost
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 14 oz puntarelle (chicory shoots)
- 10.6 oz red onions
- 18 oz Brussels sprouts
- 1/2 Hokkaido pumpkin
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste oregano
- to taste sweet paprika
- 10.6 oz Sardinian fregula
- 8.8 oz cooked lentils
- 3.5 oz smoked pancetta (optional)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp tahini
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Mat reusable baking paper
- 1 Pot for pasta
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Bowl for serving
- 1 Small bowl
Steps
Peel the pumpkin, remove seeds and fibers and cut it into cubes. Wash the Brussels sprouts, remove outer leaves (if damaged) and quarter them. Peel and slice the onions. Wash the puntarelle and cut them into small pieces. Arrange the vegetables on a baking sheet lined with the reusable mat (I liked placing the vegetables separated as in the original recipe but you can also mix them) and season with oil, salt, sweet paprika and oregano. Roast in a conventional oven preheated to 392°F for about 40 minutes. If the vegetables darken too much during cooking you can cover them with aluminum foil.
Boil the fregula in plenty of salted boiling water following the cooking time indicated on the package and prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a small bowl.
In a small skillet, brown the smoked pancetta cut into cubes without adding any fat.
Combine the fregula, lentils and vegetables and the smoked pancetta in a serving bowl, dress with the sauce, mix well and serve.
Notes
Source of the recipe that I partly modified HERE.
If you want to give the dressing a citrus note, add the juice and zest of an orange as the original recipe suggests. Unfortunately I didn’t have oranges at home.
