Some recipes just get better and better.

This started out as what I jokingly referred to as “fancy pork and beans.” Ever since I first made it, I’ve found little ways to level it up. Finally, I think I’ve outdone my original recipe. As with many of the dishes I put together, this latest iteration happened because I was missing some ingredients and there were others in the kitchen.

I’m really happy with how this turned out.

Ingredients

• Sausages – Any kind. We used a Fantastic! BBQ Party Pack, which had five different kinds of sausage. You can chop them into medallions or strips.
• Canned lentils – I used one can. No need to boil them or anything.
• Canned diced or crushed tomatoes – I used one can.
• Onion – Peeled and chopped. I just used one, but you can use more if you like.
• Garlic – Peeled and chopped. I used a whole head of garlic, because I love garlic.
• Olives – My mom had a bottle of black olives in the fridge, so I tossed them in.
• Capers – My mom had a bottle of capers in the fridge, so I tossed them in too.
• Cayenne pepper
• Cumin
• Oregano
• Black pepper
• Olive oil

Procedure

1. You can cook the sausages by putting them in a baking dish and roasting them in an oven or toaster for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how toasty you want them to be. I like doing this because this frees me up to cook the rest of the dish while the sausage is baking. If you don’t have an oven or a toaster, you can cook the sausage in a pan with oil, onion and garlic.
2. In your pan, saute onion and garlic in oil.
3. Add lentils. Cook for about two minutes. Stir occasionally.
4. Add olives and capers. Season with cayenne pepper, cumin, black pepper and oregano. Cook for about two minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Add canned tomatoes. If this is not enough to cover the other ingredients, add water. Simmer on low heat. Add seasoning to taste.
6. If you baked the sausages, now is the time to add them to the other ingredients.

This is absolutely wonderful with toasted baguette slices slathered in butter.