Lentils with anchovies and capers on crispy toast

Pulses were a staple of my diet when I was growing up. They were cheap, and a little went a long way. When my mother cooked lentils (fakes), broad beans (koukia) or chickpeas (revythia), all we would get would be a plateful of those with a slice of bread and sometimes something extra – olives or some preserved fish such as kippers, the umami flavour in both livening up the duller flavour of the pulses. For me, what turned the otherwise bland lentils into something utterly delicious was a glug of red wine vinegar (we always had our own, dynamite stuff), added at the end. It seemed to bring the lentils to life!

Still, these days we are used to having many component parts to a dish and expect a visual feast on our plates. I have always enjoyed taking the simple dishes of my childhood, like fakes, and by adding a few little touches turning them into something exciting. In this recipe those same umami flavours of the preserved fish and olives are now contained in the anchovy and caper paste, spread on a piece of crispy toast.