Ottolenghi's puy lentils with sour cherries, bacon and gorgonzola

Serves 2: 550 calories per serving.

The full Ottolenghi version of this dish has 1007 calories per serving which is quite high if you are counting calories. I make a less calorific version of this by reducing the quantity of olive oil and bacon by half and omitting the cheese entirely. This makes a meal of 550 calories.

I admit cutting the cheese is a loss I'd rather not have to bear, but if you don't mind upping the calories to 650 per serving, you could add 15g of cheese (30g for the 2 servings) - a perfectly acceptable mini flavour hit if you are going through a virtuous streak.

Ingredients for the virtuous version

(550 calories per serving):

125g Puy lentils

2 bay leaves (fresh)

125g shallots finely chopped

1.5 tbsp olive oil

50g dried sour cherries

70mlred wine vinegar

4 rashers smoked streaky bacon

80g baby spinach

salt and pepper

drizzle of aged balsamic (optional)

Lightly chop the dried cherries and soak them in the vinegar along with 3 tablespoons of water.

If you are intending to use gorgonzola, take it out of the fridge 30 mins to an hour before eating.

Put the lentils in a saucepan with the bay leaves and cover with three times their volume of cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until al dente.

Meanwhile sauté the shallots in the oil for around 10 minutes until soft. Add the cherry and vinegar mixture and simmer for a couple of minutes until the vinegar is cooked and it has thickened slightly into a sauce. When the lentils are ready, drain and add to the sauce. Don't worry if the lentils still are still wet with cooking liquor as this is quite tasty and all adds to the general flavour. Mix thoroughly, decant into a bowl and set aside.

Fry the bacon rashers. When crispy take them out of the pan, drain and pat on a couple of pieces of kitchen paper to keep them that way. At this point Ottolenghi crumbles them into the lentil mixture which adds richness to the lentils but makes the bacon soggy. If you are keen to keep the bacon crisp, you might choose to sprinkle the shards as a garnish at the end. I generally mix the bacon in unless I am throwing dietry caution to the winds, in which case I do EXTRA (!) bacon to add as a crisp garnish.

When ready to serve, fill your serving bowl with spinach. Warm the lentils through and place on top of the spinach. Dot the lentils with small dabs of gorgonzola and finish with a drizzle of aged balsamic.

Ingredients for the full version: (1007 calories per serving)

125g Puy lentils

2 bay leaves

125g shallots

3 tbsp olive oil

60g dried sour cherries

70mlred wine vinegar

8 rashers smoked streaky bacon

80g baby spinach

120g gorgonzola cheese

salt and pepper

Virtuous version ingredient breakdown:

Full version ingredient breakdown: