As the winter months hit I crave bowls of warming stews to nourish me. This can easily be made vegetarian with the omission of the bacon - but it provides a lovely smoky finish. This pleases both the meat and the bean lovers in our house as it caters for all. I have added lentils to this dish. If you have children that don’t like lentils then use the red ones as they disappear to nothing - the puy lentils are good if you have someone sensitive to lentils as less likely to cause bloating issues. Likewise with the beans choose your favourites - although the darker ones such as black, kidney and aduki work best.