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Red Wine Lentils with Confit Cherry Tomatoes & Fennel

4.86 from 7 reader reviews
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 4
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Ingredients

Confit Cherry Tomatoes & Fennel

  • ½ large fennel bulb, trimmed
  • 3 ½ cups cherry or grape tomatoes (1 ¼ lbs)
  • 5 peeled garlic cloves
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • ¾ -1 cup olive oil

Red Wine Lentils

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large shallot, small dice
  • 1 stick celery, small dice
  • 1 small carrot, small dice
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 cup French lentils, picked over
  • ¾ cup red wine
  • 1 ½ - 2 ½ cups vegetable stock

Fennel Salad:

  • ½ large fennel bulb trimmed
  • ¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • ¼ cup walnuts, chopped

Instructions

Confit Cherry Tomatoes & Fennel

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and set out a 2 quart baking dish.
  • Slice the fennel thinly (no need to remove core). Add the fennel to the baking dish along with the tomatoes, garlic cloves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Pour the oil over top and give everything a gentle stir to coat. Ensure that all veg are touching the oil base before placing in the oven. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until fennel is very soft. I like to pop in and carefully stir everything up a few times as it bakes. The tomatoes will release juice as they cook.

Red Wine Lentils

  • Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots, celery, and carrots and stir. Sauté the vegetables until tender and shallots are translucent, about 7-8 minutes. Lower the heat if veg are browning too fast. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add the garlic, smoked paprika, and thyme. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the Dijon mustard and French lentils and stir to combine. Add the red wine and stir. Add 1 ½ cups vegetable stock and stir once more. Bring the lentils up to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.
  • Simmer the lentils until they’re just tender and the liquid has been absorbed, adding splashes of extra vegetable stock as needed. This process takes about 30-35 minutes total. Check the lentils for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Keep warm.

Fennel Salad

  • Using a mandolin, thinly shave the fennel into a bowl. To the bowl, add the parsley, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and two tablespoons of the oil from the confit. Toss to combine.
  • Serve the red wine lentils warm with portions of the confit fennel and cherry tomatoes on top. Divide the fennel salad among the portions and top with the chopped walnuts.

Recipe Notes

  • If you want to skip the lentil part and just enjoy the confit fennel and tomatoes, I recommend spooning them and the oil over creamy dips, having with appetizer boards, as part of grain bowls, stirred up in a veg pasta, smushed into the top of focaccia dough, on top of pizza etc!
  • The confit fennel and cherry tomatoes will keep in the fridge (with all veg submerged in the oil) for a month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
  • My go-to red wine varieties for cooking: merlot (super silky smooth), cabernet sauvignon (full bodied) or pinot noir (lighter, not too overpowering).
  • The red wine lentils are based on a classic Zuni Cafe Cookbook recipe.
A rustic and elegant vegan dinner, my red wine lentils with confit cherry tomatoes and fennel is balanced, hearty, and nourishing. Topped with a fresh and crisp shaved fennel salad and chopped walnuts for flavour and textural contrast.