Lentil and Bacon Potato Hash
- Savory
- Comforting
- Stovetop
- Oven
Golden pan-fried potatoes and carrots with smoked bacon, thyme and lentils for a hearty one-pan dinner.
- Total
- 50 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 35
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Rendering fat · Simmering
Instructions
-
Rinse the lentils under cold running water, then put them in the saucepan with 600 ml water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until just tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
~20 min
Simmering gently keeps the lentils intact so they stay tender but don't burst into mush before they join the pan.
Simmering Keep the water at a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil, and taste early; lentils go from tender to mushy within a couple of minutes.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the lentils simmer, cut the potatoes into 1.5 cm cubes, the carrots into 1 cm dice and the onion into 1 cm pieces. Cut the smoked bacon into 1 cm strips.
~10 min
Even, uniform pieces cook at the same rate, so nothing turns to mush while something else stays raw.
-
Heat the olive oil in the large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the smoked bacon and cook until the fat renders and the edges brown, about 5 minutes.
~5 min
Rendering the fat first gives you a flavourful cooking medium and crisp bacon rather than pale, chewy strips.
Rendering fat Start the bacon in a moderately hot pan and let the fat melt slowly; if it sizzles hard and browns before the fat runs, the heat is too high.
-
Add the onion and carrots to the pan and cook, stirring, until the onion softens, about 6 minutes. Stir in the thyme and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
~6 min
Brief contact with hot fat releases the thyme's aromatic oils, which is why it smells so much stronger after 30 seconds.
Add the thyme off the heat for a moment before it hits the pan, so it blooms in the warm oil without scorching.
-
Add the potatoes, 1 tsp salt and 0.5 tsp black pepper. Press into an even layer and cook without stirring for 5 minutes to brown the base, then turn and cook until the potatoes are golden and tender, about 12 more minutes.
~5 min
Leaving the potatoes undisturbed lets the hot pan drive off surface moisture and build a crisp, browned crust.
Let the potatoes sit undisturbed in a single layer before each turn; that untouched contact with the hot pan is what builds the crisp golden crust.
-
Stir the drained lentils into the pan and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt, then serve hot.
~3 min
