Can I Use An Alternative To Lardons In Poached Chicken With Lentils?

Our answer

Nigella's Poached Chicken With Lardons And Lentils (from KITCHEN) is a comforting bowl of puy lentils topped with tender, poached chicken. The lentils are cooked with carrot, leek and lardons (or you can dice some rashers or slices of smoked streaky bacon), as they add flavour and a little extra texture to the dish.

You can omit the lardons from the dish. If you do this you could instead use a roughly chopped stalk of celery if you have one in your fridge and add this when you add the carrot. As the lardons let out some fat as they cook, you will need to add a splash of extra olive oil when frying the vegetables. You may also need to season the cooked lentils slightly more, but just taste and adjust according to your own palate.