Greek Recipes with May Lerios: Fakes

Faki is lentil and fakes is the plural. It is not pronounced as the plural of the English adjective fake: instead, it is pronounced like this: fa as in far, ke as in chemistry, and with a stress on the e.

For 10 people

(Click on the thumbnail for a larger photo)

Chop up

4 stalks of celery (makes 1 cup chopped),
3 carrots (makes 1 cup chopped), and
2 cloves of garlic.

Wash

1 lb lentils.

Put them in a large pot along with 2 quarts (8 cups) of water. Cover the pot, and heat it in hi heat, occasionally stirring to make sure the lentils don't get burnt. When the water boils, lower the heat to low; let the lentils simmer until they are tender (about 10 min since boiling started). At this point, add into the pot the chopped veggies above, as well as

1/2 cup olive oil, and
1 tbsp tomato paste.

Increase the heat to hi and stir until the mixture boils again. Then, reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for one hour stirring occasionally. Serve hot, with french bread.