Recipe: Lentil salad with whipped goat’s cheese butter, by James Martin

You can use any type of lentils you wish for this simple salad, says James Martin. The key is adding a touch of sherry vinegar, which cuts through the richness of the goat’s cheese butter. Dice all the vegetables nice and small as this will help them break down as the lentils cook. It is a great dish either hot or cold.

Ingredients: for the lentil salad

• 50g butter
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 shallot, peeled and diced
• ½ a carrot, diced
• ½ a celery stick, diced
• 50g bacon lardons
• ½ a leek, diced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 150g green lentils
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 300ml chicken stock
• 50ml red wine
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• a small bunch of coriander, chopped

For the whipped goat’s cheese butter

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• 100g goat’s butter, softened
• 200g soft goat’s cheese
• black pepper, to taste
• to serve: a few sprigs of coriander

Method

• Melt the butter in a large pan and add the garlic, shallot, carrot, celery, bacon, leek and spices.
• Cook for 1 minute before adding all the remaining ingredients for the lentil salad.
• Bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
• Whisk together the goat’s butter and cheese. Season with pepper.
• Spoon the lentils into bowls and dot with the goat’s cheese butter. Sprinkle with coriander.

Taken from Butter: Comforting, Delicious, Versatile by James Martin, published by Quadrille at £22. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £17.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.