A pot full of earthy joyfulness to herald autumn as the nights begin to close in.

Ingredients

• 200g or 1 cup dried puy lentils, cooked until just tender, about 20 minutes
• 2 large beetroot with leaves and stalks
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 stalks of thyme, leaves picked off
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 500g fresh tomatoes, seeds removed and chopped or 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes in juice
• 100 g halloumi cheese sliced and fried on olive oil

Method

1. Cook the beetroot until tender in boiling water. When they are cool remove the skins by sliding them off with your hands. Slice into thin wedges.
2. In a large pan cook the onions in olive oil until they caramelise. Take your time with this because it lays down the sweet, earthy flavour profile of this dish. It could take up to 30 minutes until they are melting and turning brown. At this point stir in the balsamic vinegar and let it boil away for a minute. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the thyme
3. At this point add the tomatoes. If they are fresh, cook until any watery juices have boiled away
4. Now stir the lentils through and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt to taste
5. Stir the beetroot through the mixture.
6. Take the beetroot tops and make sure all the stalks and leaves are lined up the same way. Chop the leaves into 2cm slices. When you get to the stalks chop them into smaller bits, 1/2 to 1 cm
7. Add the stalks to the mixture and simmer for another couple of minutes. If at any point the mixture gets so dry it is sticking to the bottom of the pot, add a bit more water to loosen it but not enough to make it watery
8. Turn off the heat and pile the leaves on top. Put a lid on and let the leaves cook in the residual heat for 5 minutes. Stir them through the mixture and scatter the cheese over the top.