One-Pan Spicy Meatballs With Lentils and Fennel

By Ali Slagle

Updated Jan. 23, 2020

One-Pan Spicy Meatballs With Lentils and Fennel
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(634)
Comments
Read comments

In this one-pan meal, you get spicy meatballs, savory lentils and sweet fennel that are all perked up with vinegar and parsley. For the speediest meatballs, use uncased bulk Italian sausage, which comes fully seasoned. When cooked at high heat and partly submerged in the chicken stock, the meatballs brown on top and stay moist on the inside — and the lentils soak up the flavorful pork juices. The roasted fennel provides sweetness and echoes the fennel seed in the meatballs, but feel free to use another vegetable that cooks at the same rate, like thinly sliced carrots.

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: Give recipes to anyone

    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.

    Subscribe

  • Share this recipe

  • Print this recipe

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1fennel bulb, cored, cut into ½-inch wedges through the root, plus ¼ cup fresh fennel fronds
  • 2teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  • Kosher salt and black pepper
  • 1½pounds bulk hot Italian sausage (or fresh hot Italian sausages, casings removed)
  • 1egg
  • 4cups chicken stock
  • 2cups brown lentils
  • 4garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1fresh rosemary sprig
  • 1tablespoon sherry vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  • ½cup fresh parsley leaves, plus more for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

987 calories; 49 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 22 grams monounsaturated fat; 9 grams polyunsaturated fat; 82 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 56 grams protein; 1396 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 450 degrees. In a 9-by-13-inch baking pan or baking dish, gently toss the fennel wedges with the olive oil to coat and season with salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown underneath, about 10 minutes. (Fennel will not be tender at this point.)

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, use your hands or a spoon to mix the sausage with the egg until combined. Roll the mixture into 12 (1½-inch) meatballs.

  3. Step 3

    Add the chicken stock, lentils, garlic and rosemary to the roasted fennel. Stir to combine, then season with ¾ teaspoon salt. Place the meatballs in the lentil mixture, drizzle the meatballs with olive oil, then roast until the meatballs are browned on top and lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Discard the rosemary sprig, then stir in the vinegar, parsley leaves and fennel fronds (reserve a few fronds for garnishing, if desired). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the lentils and any braising liquid onto shallow bowls and top with the meatballs. Garnish with additional parsley leaves and fennel fronds, if desired.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Ratings

4 out of 5
634 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Comments

iteachforshoes

Delicious weeknight meal. Subbed celery for fennel and pan seared the meatballs first to render out some of the fat. Also cut down to 1.5 c lentils and 3 c stock. Turned out perfect. Will make again!

anna

Really delicious! I'll definitely make this one again. Used a fairly small fennel bulb, and plan to add more next time. Carrots would be a great addition. Vinegar added a wonderful brightness. Don't skip it. Roughly chop the parsley before mixing into the dish - flavor of the whole leaves was a bit much.

Jessica

We loved this easy, flavorful dinner on a chilly evening. I imagine you could make it even easier by just roasting whole Italian sausages instead of making meatballs - though the crispy, juicy meatballs were really tasty. I doubled the fennel and wound up adding a bit more water as the lentils cooked. A keeper.

Midge

I was working with just a pound of (chicken) sausage so my meatballs were a little squishy/more like meat blobs because of the extra moisture. Also used black lentils. All worked out beautifully though!

Shandaeya

Made this vegan but served with yogurt. Used impossible meatballs that I added after lentils baked for 15 minutes. I also added a leek with the fennel. Used dried rosemary because fresh wasn’t available. Love this recipe

mike

Extremely tasty. Sliced the fennel, thin, 3 cups, low, sodium chick stock, add pepper flakes, and a Leppo if using mild sausage.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

or to save this recipe.