The beautiful black lentils on the right are lenticchie nere delle colline ennesi, black lentils from Enna hills (Enna is a city in the heart of Sicily), an old cultivar that came close to extinction under the pressure of mechanized agriculture. I purchased some of those lentils in Italy and prepared lenticchie nere ennesi con tonno (black lentils from Enna with tombo).
You will find more information on this special legume, the recipe and the accompanying audio file in the guest post I wrote for My Legume Love Affair 37 — Year 4, the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by the creator herself.
It is a very special honor to contribute to the celebration for My Legume Love Affair, an event in which I have participated 16 times before this one — starting with the very first edition — and which I have hosted three times.
Many thanks to Susan for continuing to bring together bloggers from around the world around the table of this beautiful event.
i love lenticchie with tuna!
Posted by: ombretta | July 23, 2011 at 05:38 AM
Thank you, Simona, for introducing us to the stone-like charm of black Enna lentils. I recently found Umbrian lentils (in a Japanese market of all places) but they have a different kind of beauty, not nearly as dramatic.
Your guest post for MLLA is a fine addition to the celebration. Thanks again.
Posted by: Susan | July 23, 2011 at 06:35 AM
I've never seen black lentils before. They look beautiful.
Posted by: Paz | July 24, 2011 at 06:12 PM
Indeed, it's a very nice combination, Ombretta.
It was an honor and a pleasure, dear Susan. I am glad you found Umbrian lentils and I hope you will like them. The represent lentils for me, as they are the only kind I knew growing up.
Ciao Paz. I agree: black lentils are quite pretty.
Posted by: Simona Carini | July 24, 2011 at 11:02 PM