Rustic delight: marmite de lentilles au lard fumé

urprise: this has nothing to do with the masterpiece of British culinary genius, the shoe-sole-tasting Marmite. Marmite is the French for cooking pot and also stands for anything cooked in it. Most of times it's something hearty and rustic. I call this dish marmite to get away with not calling it either soup or stew, because it is neither, being somewhere in the delicious between and combining the best of both so you have the whole dinner in one pot.

True to its bucolic origins in peasant France this dish is simple, filling and tasty. If you use pre-cooked beans from a can it will never take you more than an hour to cook and for most part you will only need to stir it occasionally. So here how it goes, marmite de lentilles au lard fumé (skip stages 1 and 2 if you use canned beans):

1. Soak 2 cups of beans in cold water overnight. Changing the water once every few hours helps to reduce the musical side-effects of eating the beans later.
2. Cover beans with twice cold water and bring to boil. Reduce fire and allow to simmer until nice and soft. This may take anywhere between 40 minutes and a couple of hours.
   
3. In the meantime, peel and chop 3 onions. Heat some olive oil in a pan and slowly fry the onions till golden yellow. This is called caramelisation and brings a whole dimension to the taste of the marmite.
4. Peel and dice 3 potatoes and let lay them around to dry: this will keep them whole in the soup without disintegrating into mash.
   
5. Peel and dice a carrot.
6. Add about 150 g smoked bacon bits and the diced carrot into the pan with onions and fry until it give sout a nice flavour.
7. Add the mix and the potatoes to the beans (they must be cooked by now). Allow to simmer until everything is cooked. Add salt, pepper and your favourite herbs. The classic bouquet garni tastes perfect here.
8. Served wth grilled garlic bread, grated cheese and chopped parsley.