(Serves four)

150 g small Puy lentils
750 ml beef stock
6 medium-sized potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tbsps olive oil
4 fresh Maltese sausages, about 600 g
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
Small can (200 g) chopped tomatoes
2 tbsps tomato paste
1 tbsp each chopped parsley and celery leaves
1 tsp mixed dried herbs
Salt and pepper
Melted butter for brushing

Rinse the lentils under running water, drain them and put them into a pan with 500 ml of the stock. Bring to the boil, cover the pan, lower the heat and cook for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender and have absorbed the stock. While the lentils are cooking, put the potatoes into a pan of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for about three minutes until just tender, then drain and cool.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Remove the skins from the sausages, crumble the meat into the pan and fry, stirring and turning and breaking it up, until it starts to brown. Add the onion and carrots and cook until the onion starts to soften, then stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, celery and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining 250 ml of beef stock, bring to the boil and let it bubble until the stock has almost evaporated.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Stir the cooked lentils into the sausage mixture, then pour it all into a baking dish and arrange the potatoes on top. Brush generously with melted butter and bake for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are brown and crusty.