First, soak the lentils overnight in clean water. Drain them before cooking them.
For the dish to be truly traditional, you must first make a tomato sofrito. It can also be replaced with a can, but it will definitely be worth the extra time it takes to make it.
To do this, put 3 cloves of garlic, 1 onion, peppers and 2 finely chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of salt and a drizzle of oil in a saucepan. Cook for one hour over low heat without covering.
When the tomato sauce is ready, add the lentils, the bay leaf, the head of garlic, 1 onion, 1 tomato (the onion, garlic and tomato cleaned but whole), the 2 peeled and sliced carrots, parsley and meat (chorizo, black pudding and bacon and a ham bone if you have one). Add a pinch of pepper and the sweet paprika.
Cover with water (just enough to cover everything) and cook over medium heat until the water begins to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for an hour. Check if more water is needed.
Serve hot.
