Recipe #18/20: Lentil Pasta!

Last few recipes coming down the pipe! I recently acquired a few attachments for my stand mixer, so I thought I'd try this one out. To be straight forward, it didn't turn out as well as I would have hoped, but I feel like most of that is my utter lack of experience in pasta making. From what I know, pasta (much like many of its flour/water/egg compatriots) requires a great deal of practice and experience to make skillfully. That being said, here's what I learned about making pasta:

Pasta requires a large amount of gluten in order to hold together. This protein (mostly brought up in casual conversation as being purged from one's diet) is actually a composite protein of gliadin and glutenin, which essentially forms the backbone of most baked goods. While not good for people with celiac disease, for the rest of us it what gives so much taste and texture to most of the things at your local baker. The forming of gluten takes place in the kneading process, which is essential for the pasta to remain together. While there are gluten-free pastas now available, I'm not sure exactly how they are made (most likely utilizing high pressure machines and/or chemical agents). Since lentils do not contain gluten, I knew that I would have to use a partly lentil, partly wheat flour dough.

The wheat flour I chose is called semolina flour which is essentially made for pasta making. It is made from a variety of wheat called durum wheat which, you guessed it, contains a high percentage of gluten. I chose to do half and half for the flour (some recipes do call for half semolina, half all-purpose). I'm not sure what the ideal ratio is but as I become more practiced at pasta making, I will probably try different combinations.

The dough was very difficult, and extremely messy, to get through the pasta maker. I have a variety of different attachments, but what seemed to work best was a wide-set spaghetti die. In retrospect, the easiest solution would probably be lasagna noodles, which I could then go back and use in the lentil lasagna recipe. Also, I tried three different varieties of lentil flours, but all seemed to be equally tricky.

Finally, the pasta sauce is pretty basic, but surprisingly delicious for essentially being made up on the fly. The caramelized onions add a nice sweetness, which is well balanced by the savory herbs and pepper flake spice. It can be either blended or left as is, depending on your preferences.

I hope you enjoy this recipes, those who are so bold as to venture into the world of pasta making. If anyone has successfully made pasta before, I would more than welcome any helpful hints for my next endeavor. Two more recipes left: they will be fun!

Lentil Pasta with Tomato Sauce

Serves four people

Pasta:

3/4 cup semolina flour

1 cup lentils (any variety)

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

Sauce:

1 red onion, sliced

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

1/4 cup fat (olive oil, etc. [I used goose fat since I have some])

8 garlic cloves, sliced

2 6 oz. cans tomato paste

1 14.5 oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes

12 oz. beef broth

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried marjoram

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Pasta:

1. Using a spice grinder, grind the lentils into flour and sift into a bowl. (Should yield approximately 3/4 cup.)

2. Mix dry ingredients (including lentil flour) in the bowl of a stand mixer with a fork or whisk.

3. Add eggs, water and oil and combine using paddle attachment.

4. Switch to bread hook and knead for 15 minutes, stopping occasionally to push mixture down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

5. Run pasta through pasta machine (manual or stand mixer attachment) according to manufacturer's instructions.

6. Boil water, cook pasta and drain.

Sauce:

1. Heat fat in a medium-sized pot on medium heat and add red onions.

2. Drop heat to medium-low and cook onions until caramelized (around 10-15 minutes).

3. Raise the heat back to medium, add garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add carrots and celery and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Add the remaining ingredients, reduce heat to very low and simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Recipe #17/20: Lentil Hummus

Well I didn't finish by the end of '09, but I have some pretty cool recipes planned out for the last few. This one is courtesy of my good friend Hillary and the people at chow.com. This red lentil hummus is quite tasty and good on anything from pita chips to veggies. The only thing I changed was adding the zest from the freshly squeezed lemon as well, since it seemed a shame to throw away perfectly good zest if I were taking the effort to freshly squeeze a lemon. The addition of the zest adds a delightfully bright note to the hummus that would work perfectly for a summer picnic (or in the winter time to perhaps escape the cold, grey weather and pretend you are on a summer picnic). The Chow recipe is also an ingredient for a Lentil Hummus Wrap with Pomegranate Molasses, though I didn't get a chance to make that. I still have some left over, so maybe I will if I can find any pomegranate molasses.

I hope you enjoy this refreshingly little treat. Next stop: Homemade Lentil Pasta!

Red Lentil Hummus

Serves a party as an appetizer with pita chips, veggies, etc. (Makes about 2 cups)

2 cups water

1 cup dried red lentils

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 Tbsp tahini butter

5 Tbsp olive oil

Juice and zest from one lemon

2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Boil water, add lentils, reduce to simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. Drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. Place lentils, garlic and tahini in a food processor with blade attachment and pulse until lentils are broken up.

3. With the motor running, add lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper and oil. Blend for around 30 seconds. Scrape down the side of the bowl and then blend for another 40 seconds, or until smooth. Storage in the fridge in an airtight container.

Recipe #16/20: Lentil Ice Cream!

Ready for the most commonly posted blog statement?:

Sorry I haven't posted recently, but I've been really busy.

Yeah, yeah. Lame excuse. To my defense though, applying to twelve Ph.D. programs does leave little room for lentil blogging. In fact, I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and am not posting it until nine days before Christmas. Since I'm going back to CO to visit the fam during said holiday, I probably won't post anything else until New Years, though between cooking for Christmas and New Years I'll probably be able to finish out the remaining four recipes. Should work out well because then I can start the New Year with another ingredient! Hooray!

So, lentil ice cream. Thought that this one could be fun. It is partially inspired by the crazy concoctions created by my friend Allison for her new homemade ice cream business, although to my knowledge she has not yet tried my little legume. I think the other inspiration came from finishing off the last of the long-ago-created pate. The flavor was mellow enough that I felt with a little sweetness it could make a decent ice cream.

No total craziness here (i.e. ice cream made from lentil milk or some such thing). The ice cream is a pretty standard vanilla that is flavored with lentils. After blending, the lentil pulp is strained out to prevent frightening textures, although feel free to leave it in. I just haven't had the chance. Mostly it is just flavored with lentils. The taste was good, although I added a little too much sugar so the sweetness definitely overpowered the lentils. Also, I did not cool the lentils post cooking before I added the cream, so it curdled a little on me. These mistakes have been fixed on the recipe below, so hopefully you shouldn't have those problems.

Other than that, enjoy one of the few dessert lentil dishes for the project and hopefully I will get something else posted in a more timely manner.

Lentil Ice Cream

Serves one to eight people

1.5 cups green lentils

0.75 cups brown sugar

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups half and half

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean (optional, but recommended)

8 egg yolks

Cook the lentils in three cups of water for thirty minutes. Strain out the water and rinse the lentils until cool. Add cream and half & half and heat on the stove on medium low. When it begins to simmer, add vanilla extract and brown sugar. Simmer on low for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and blend with a immersion blender. (Again, if you don't have one: get one. But for today, transfer in batches to a standard blender.) Strain through fine mesh strainer into another stovetop pot and throw away lentil pulp (unless you like your ice cream chunky). Return to the stove on low. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eight egg yolks. Using a ladle, add small amounts of the hot liquid to the egg yolks, beating continuously. (Without constant whisking, or this tempering step, the egg proteins will coagulate). When you have added about one third of the liquid to the egg yolks, return all of the egg/dairy mixture to the stovetop pot. Stir occasionally for ten minutes, then remove from heat, pour into a large bowl (preferably metal) and put in the fridge. Once the mixture is cold, churn using your ice cream churner according the the manufacturer's instructions.

Recipe #15/20: Lentil Lasagna!

Semi-exciting news on the lentil diversity front! When I went to the co-op to pick up more lentils, (I was running low on green) I found......French green lentils! Also known as Puy lentils, they are a little smaller than traditional green lentils, but look way cooler. They are also supposed to have a richer flavor. Technically, these are not Puy lentils as they were grown in Canada and not one of the few regions in France that reserve the Puy lentil title according to the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée, but they are the same botanical variety. Now I just need to get my hands on some black beluga lentils before this project is done.

As for the lasagna: sadly, the lentils compose only the sauce of the lasagna, not the noodles themselves. I would like to try to make lentil pasta as one of the remaining recipes, but this week I just do not have the time. For those of you who don't know, I am currently in the process of applying to graduate school for a Ph.D. in bioengineering. There are twelve schools I am applying to and as application deadlines are roaring closer, it is tough to make time for super-diverse applications. Perhaps this weekend I'll think of something. On a fun, related note though, I did talk about this project in my personal statement in my applications, comparing my interest in altering lentils into previously unexplored regions to the genetic manipulations conducted in the field of synthetic biology. So if nothing else, at least this project led to an interesting beginning to my application essay.

On to the lasagna! I found this recipe online after a friend suggested that I make lasagna. It is pretty easy and consists of three parts: lentil sauce, cheese sauce and assembly. I highly recommend making it in the order I have put them, rather than the cheese sauce before the lentil sauce as the recipe has because by the time the lentil sauce is ready, the cheese sauce would have become cold and clumpy. I also like baked recipes like this because while it is in the oven, you can do all of the other dishes so that when it is done, there is almost no clean up left! Also, I added Parmesan on top because every lasagna should have that. I mean seriously.

The taste is delicious. The lentils have a very meaty texture which compliments nicely with the softness of the noodles and creaminess of the cheese sauce. And with the weather storming outside last night and the temperatures dropping everywhere, the timing is perfect. The only complaint that I have is that I didn't give the lasagna box a little rattle before buying it and it wasn't until I got home that I realized most of the noodles were broken. Still just as tasty though.

Enjoy this recipe and hopefully by the end of this week I'll have a good number of applications out the door and will be able to start down the home stretch of the Great Lentil Adventure!

(Also, feel free to leave suggestions regarding the next ingredient to try. I'm curious to know what you think.)

Lentil Lasagna

Serves 6 to 8 people

Ingredients

1 12oz. box lasagna noodles

7 oz. (200g) cheese, grated (I used raw sharp chedder)

3 oz. (80g) AP flour

3 cups whole milk

1 oz. (2 Tbsp.) butter

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

2 bay leaves

7 oz. (200g) green lentils

1 29 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted for a little extra flavor)

2 onions

1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 Anaheim pepper (though any mildly spicy, green pepper will do)

1 tsp each dried basil and oregano

Salt and black pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Lentil sauce

Rinse the lentils and cook in two cups of water for 30 minutes. Finely chop onions and soften on in a large skillet in oil with a bay leaf on medium heat for ten minutes. Add the chopped pepper and cook for a further five minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, cooked lentils, basil, oregano, and season with black pepper. Mix well and simmer gently for another five to ten minutes, stirring regularly.

Cheese sauce

Beat the flour in a small amount of the milk to a smooth, runny, paste in a small bowl. Warm the rest of the milk a little in a saucepan with the remaining bay leaf. Pour some of this warm, but not boiling, milk into the cold milk/flour mix, beating vigorously with a fork. (This is called tempering, in case you wanted to know.) Pour the warm flour/milk mix back into the saucepan containing the remaining warm milk, whisking constantly. Add the butter and bring slowly to a boil, again whisking. Stir the simmering mix for a few minutes, and take off the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste, the nutmeg, and the grated cheese, and stir well until the cheese melts.

Assembly

Butter an oven-proof dish. (I used a large Pyrex dish. I think it is around 17.5" x 11" x 2-3", but anything around that should do.) Spoon a shallow layer of lentil sauce across the bottom. Next, add a single layer of lasagna, covering the sauce. Then, add a layer of cheese sauce followed by another layer of lasagna. Repeat lentil, lasagna, cheese, lasagna until all but the cheese sauce is gone, then finish with the remaining cheese. Finally, cover with grated Parmesan cheese and bake in a 350F oven for 45 minute. Allow to rest at least five minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe #14/20: Spaghetti and Lentil "Meatballs"!

So naturally, after realizing the cooked lentil cheese in the lentil pizza tasted like meatballs, I had to try spaghetti with lentil meatballs. I've never made meatballs before (hell, I think in the two plus years I've lived in Seattle, I've only made spaghetti once), so I searched around for a few

recipes in an effort to get a general idea of how most people make them. Essentially, it is just ground meat mixed with a few herbs and spices, then coated in egg and breadcrumbs and browned in oil. Fairly straightforward. I also searched for sauce recipes and found one that I could assemble in the same pan after the meatballs had browned, simmering them for the remaining cooking time. As for pasta, I chose a whole wheat pasta to round out the earthy flavors of the lentil cheese and sauce.

The meatballs are actually pretty tasty. They are very very lean, so they can be a little bit dry, but they have a nice flavor. I think next time I may mix a little fat in with the meatball mix to help keep them moist. The pasta sauce is quite good and is certainly one that I would use again next time I get around to making pasta. Additionally, the recipe didn't take too long and made enough for leftover lunches for almost the whole week. Other than the actual process of making the lentil cheese, it is a nice recipe for a quick, mid-week dinner. Enjoy!

Lentil Meatballs

Serves four to six

Ingredients

~1.5 lbs. lentil cheese (see lentil pizza post)

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3 Tsp dried parsley

1 egg or 1/2 cup egg nog

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup olive oil

1 small onion

1 29 oz. can tomato sauce

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 cup stock (either beef or pork)

2 Tsp dried basil

1 Tsp anchovy paste (optional, but good)

1 lb. pasta, cooked

Combine the lentil cheese, Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and 1 Tsp dried parsley in a large bowl. (As I mentioned above, you could try adding perhaps 2 oz. butter, broken into little pieces, into the mixture in an effort to keep the meatballs more moist, though I have not tried this.) Mix with your hands to combine and form lentils into tight balls about the size of a golf ball. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Dredge lentil balls in a beaten egg or egg nog, then in the bread crumbs and add to the skillet. Rotate each ball every 60-90 seconds until all sides have browned. Reduce heat to low and add remaining ingredients (except for the pasta). Stir gently to combine and let mingle for ~10 minutes. Serve atop pasta with some freshly grated Parmesan. Enjoy!

Recipe #13/20: Lentil Pizza! with.....Lentil "Cheese"!

Yeah! Lentil Pizza! To be specific, the crust is made of lentils. Well, that and the lentil cheese, but I digress.

A couple weeks ago, I was walking home from work and was struck with a sudden realization. Back during the epic night of eating at Sutra, which I had already mentioned was the inspiration for the delicious Chocolate Avocado cookies, we also had a spanakopita that contained pecan cheese. When I asked one of the waitresses, she explained that the cheese was actually made from fermenting the pecans and then separating them into curds and whey. I thought, could this work with lentils? Well, I found a recipe for Almond cheese and thought I would give it a try.

It turned out....interestingly. I sprouted a batch of lentils, but decided atleast for the first attempt not to remove all of the casings, like the recipes does with the almonds. Adding the water, I blended them with my stick blender and then covered them with cheese cloth to ferment for a day. After fermentation, they went in a stock sock and I drained them of the whey. The flavor is....well, bland. And since they have low fat content, they don't really perform like cheese (melting, etc.). But I thought I'd give it a try on the pizza, supplementing with other cheeses.

So now, the lentil pizza. Aside from the cheese, the only lentils that I used were red lentils to make the pizza base. It is quite tasty, but not really like a traditional pizza dough. Best eaten with a knife and fork, this pizza base has a nice, simple savory aspect provided you bench your assumptions about how pizza dough should taste. It is extremely simple, so next time you want to make a pizza give it a try. I used a recipe for the pizza sauce I found online and for toppings I just added some of the lentil cheese, parmesan and chedder (WSU Cougar Gold Smoked Cheddar!) The sauce was quite good, but the kicker?: The lentil cheese. Did it melt like the cheddar? No, but in fact it actually tasted like meatballs. Yup, meatballs. So, enjoy this pizza and in the meantime, I've found another use for the lentil cheese. :D

Lentil Pizza

For pizza sauce

Serves 3-4, depending on toppings and appetite

Ingredients

• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 6 fluid ounces warm water (~110 F)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• salt to taste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese.
2. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

For pizza base

Ingredients:

7oz lentils

Method:

1. Grind the lentils in a coffee or spice grinder until they resemble a fine flour. You could use a strong blender.
2. Sieve the lentils into a bowel.
3. Put aside a few pinches of the lentil flour in the bowl.
4. Add to the lentil flour in the bowl 5 tablespoons of water and make into a dough.
5. You may need to add more or less water to get the dough to the right consistency.
6. Flour a surface and roll out the dough to a thin circular shape.
7. Place on an oven tray and heat at 300F for 10 mins in an oven.
8. Now put the toppings of your choice on, including sauce from above, and return to the oven.

Recipes #11&12/20: Lentil Bread and Lentil Pate with Lentil Beer Update!

Two lentil recipes for the price of one! Huzzah! One of the recipes that I wanted to do over the course of this project was lentil bread. Bread is such an iconic staple of the human diet that I knew that it would need to be included at some point. Also, it wasn't any entirely original concept; many multigrain breads that you can buy at the grocery store are beginning to rely on the nutritive power of lentils for enrichment. The goal then was to find a recipe worthy of its place as a lentil bread. While blind experimentation, as I have toted, is tons of fun and leads to creatively inspired, if sometimes unintentional, dishes, baking is a whole different animal. Especially because I rarely bake. So my goal was to find a recipe that most utilized the lentils. I wanted not a big, soft loaf that happened to have lentils, but a dense loaf packed with nutritive lentils rather than fluffy, gluten-stabilized air bubbles.

Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. As is common with most of my dishes, I found lots of recipes that added lentils as an ingredient to lots of other things but never was the star. While I would still like to eventually experiment at making a lentil-rich loaf, I decided that I would still try one of these lentil-additive loafs. The Lentil Bread that I decided to use is a pretty simple recipe combining lentil puree with flour, yeast, water/milk, oil and a little onion and garlic for something extra. Having a stand mixer always helps while mixing, but this recipe is at the limit that it can hold as the dough climbed up the bread hook and tried to work its way into the motor (that's what I get for being distracted). Despite being messy and sticky (as all my limited baking work seems to be) the recipe turned out tremendously well. The bread is everything that a wheat-flour bread should be: soft, chewy, slightly fragrant and, since I made it myself, unbelievably fresh. The lentils are faintly present, but if you didn't know they were there you might only notice them by the slightly green color on the inside (vaguely reminiscent of a matcha bread that a coworker once made). Also, mine was changed a little from the recipe. I only had one cup of bread flour and the rest was All-Purpose, so I switched the whole-wheat for the bread and the bread for the AP: the recipe still came out fine.

The other recipe that I'd had for forever was a Lentil Pate. I figured I would do it alongside the bread because a) it is very quick and easy and b) I thought it would go well on a slice of toasted lentil bread. As far as lentil recipes go, this one is a cinch. Cook, blend, cool. It is not exceptionally flavorful, but the texture is nice as a spread. I tried it on a piece of the bread and it helped perk the flavor a bit, but I think the texture would have been better contrasted if I had toasted the bread first (which is difficult to do since it was my lunch at work). I would use this recipe as a baseline and add different spices to it according to your endgame: curry powder, smoked paprika, lemon juice and ground star anise. The possibilities are endless.

Lentil Bread

Makes 3 loaves (approx. 36 slices)

• 3/4 cup lentils, rinsed
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 4-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1-1/2 cups warm fat-free milk (110° to 115°)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 6 to 7 cups bread flour

Directions

• In a saucepan, combine the lentils, water, onion and garlic; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. Cool slightly. Transfer mixture to a blender or food processor; cover and process until smooth. Cool to 110°-115°.
• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, lentil mixture, oil, sugar, Parmesan, salt, whole wheat flour and 3 cups bread flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining bread flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into thirds; shape into loaves. Place in three greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375° for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Lentil Pate

Serves 6 to 8 or a party as a cracker spread

1 cup lentils, pre-cooked in 2 cups of water OR 1-1/2 cups canned cooked lentils, drained
1 sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced finely
6 teaspoons margarine
1 teaspoon black pepper
Water if necessary
1/2 teaspoon vinegar

Preparation:

In a large saucepan, gently saute sweet onion and garlic in the margarine over low heat until soft, but not browned. Season with black pepper. Add lentils and heat until warmed through.

Scrape lentil mixture into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. Add vinegar and pulse until combined.

Serve lentil pate at room temperature with toasted bread rounds or savory crackers for a delicious vegetarian appetizer that will appeal to all.

Lastly, as promised, a lentil beer update! I have consumed now consumed...lentil beer, sort of. And lived! Let me explain.

As I have discussed many times, the seemingly ultimate challenge to test the versatility of lentils I decided to try was lentil beer. Rather than an individual hurdle like many of the other recipes contained, lentil beer required utilizing multiple novel techniques as well as detailed planning. The steps:

1) Traditionally, beer is made from wheat or barley malt, hops, yeast and water (adjunct grains, like rice, are used in mass-quantity, domestic beers as filler). The alcohol comes from the fermentation of sugars in the malt by the yeast. Therefore, in order to make lentil beer, I would need to discover how to make lentil malt.

2) Research regarding malts led to lots of cool tidbits on the only part of brewing I had yet to try (I have always used canned malt extract when making batches of beer). The most helpful realization: the barley or wheat must first be sprouted in order to cause the grains to release amylase, which breaks the long starch molecules in the plants down into smaller components that the yeast can ferment. (Tangential fun fact: another source of amylase is saliva, so technically I could chew the lentils and spit them into a container to provide the amylase, which is the traditional technique for the Latin American, corn-based drink, Chicha.) So now the questions is: can I sprout lentils?

3) Anyone who has read the sprouted lentil stir fry knows that I found out the answer is yes. And that it is done quite commonly. So I decided that in theory if I were to mash the sprouted lentils and heat them in a pot of water at around 170F and a pH of 5.5, activating the amylase, then I should be able to get a sugary wort from the lentils to use in fermentation. So that is what I tried. Unfortunately, my specific gravity did not go up. In brewing, the amount of sugar is usually measured by specific gravity (which is the density of the liquid with respect to water). Larger specific gravities mean more sugar in the solution. When the beer ferments, the sugars turn into alcohol, which is lighter than water, so the density goes down. Measuring specific gravity allows you to both calculate the fermented sugars (and thus alcohol percentage) as well as verify that the fermentation process is completed so that it does not start up again after bottling, resulting in exploding bottles. Since my specific gravity didn't go up, it meant that I didn't have significant amounts of sugars in the wort to facilitate brewing. At this point I had consumed a few beers and began to get frustrated, so I started grabbing handfuls of brown sugar and throwing them into the wort. And this is where the recipe begins to deviate from ideal. With the sugar added, there was now fermentable material, so what I needed was yeast.

4) For yeast I had planned on using Chimay Belgium Trappist Ale yeast. This is one of my favorite tricks in brewing. Anytime you buy a bottle-conditioned beer (Belgian trappists, German hefeweizens, etc. are popular options), the yeast used to brew the beer are still in the bottle. Since there aren't sugars left for them to digest, they lay dormant; however, if you decant most of the beer and then add the last yeast-rich slurry to a little sugar, voila!, they awaken and begin fermenting anew. Thus if you ever want to brew a beer closely in the style of a Belgian trappist, what better way than to use the exact same yeast strain? So I decanted most of my bottle into a glass and then added the rest to my one quart of wort, hoping it would ferment. I put it in a mason jar and added an airlock to the top.

5) Sure enough, the beer fermented and after I measured the specific gravity, I was able to determine that I had made 6.4% alcohol beer! I added a little bit of sugar to be fermented for carbonation and bottled the mixture into two bottles: one 12oz. and one 22oz. After waiting a week, I chilled it in the fridge and gave it a try. It is....interesting. It is very bright with heavy apple and citrus notes. Having had the Chimay, I know that most of these tastes were produced by the yeast itself as it fermented the brown sugar; however, there is an underlying body and almost earthy taste that comes from the lentils. It may not be a beer that I would want to drink in endless glasses but it was good enough to make me want to try to make it again for real.

6) Which brings me to my last point. Lentil Beer: Part Deux. I'm still not sure exactly how I will fix the wort-making process, but I am currently sprouting two batches of lentils that hopefully I will be able to turn into sugary goodness. I will keep you posted on the status, but the fact that the first batch was more-than-palatable makes me excited that I might be able to create an enjoyable lentil beer. And that would be a feat for this project.