From the menu of … Portofino, 3199 Paces Ferry Place, Atlanta. 404-231-1136, www.portofinoatl.com
Q. I’d love the recipe for Portofino’s lentil soup/stew – absolutely the best I’ve ever had. It was garnished with arugula and prosciutto, perfect for cold winter evenings.
Meryl Wilkerson, Norcross
A. Portofino’s executive chef Paul Sidener is a generous man. We’ve run two gazpacho recipes from the restaurant in the past. Now he’s sharing the recipe for his lentil stew. French green lentils are a specialty item available at some groceries, at the DeKalb and Buford Highway farmers markets and at some specialty cook stores.
The restaurant prepares this stew with house made veal stock. If you have a few pounds of veal bones, you may want to give that a try. Otherwise, good quality chicken stock will do fine.
Garnish each serving as the restaurant does with an egg fried sunny side up, prosciutto and a handful of arugula tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of restaurant in the subject line.
Portofino’s Lentil Stew
Hands on: 35 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes: 16 cups
6 ounces sweet or hot Italian sausage
1 cup 1/4-inch diced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup 1/2-inch diced carrot
1 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
1 cup red wine
6 cups veal or chicken stock
6 cups water
3 cups French green lentils (about 24 ounces)
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
Egg, prosciutto and arugula for garnish
In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook Italian sausage until browned, about 5 minutes, stirring and breaking sausage into crumbles. Remove sausage from saucepan and set aside. Do not clean saucepan.
In the same saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook until it beings to brown, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and celery and cook until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Pour in red wine and stir bottom of pan to release all browned bits. Add reserved sausage, stock, water and lentils and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until lentils are tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in parsley, thyme, tomato paste and lemon juice and season to taste.
When ready to serve, divide stew between bowls and garnish with sunny side up egg, prosciutto and arugula tossed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Per 1-cup serving: 191 calories (percent of calories from fat, 21), 16 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams fiber, 5 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 8 milligrams cholesterol, 124 milligrams sodium.
