Jennifer Philipp is a Culinary Management student at George Brown College, a buffet and line cook at the Fifth Wheel Truck Stop in Bowmanville, and the intern in the Canadian Living Test Kitchen. Her passions include recipe development, heirloom vegetable gardening, history, travel, and music Eating at Langano Skies, an Edmonton-based Ethiopian restaurant, last summer was a mouthwatering experience. Of the six dishes I sampled, the spicy red lentil stew, called Mesir Wat, stood out the most because of its simplicity and overwhelming flavour of berbere. Many dishes were served with an Ethiopian cottage cheese known as Iyeb. This cheese inspires the ricotta cheese garnish for this recipe, because it counteracts the spiciness and brightens the dish. My recipe utilizes a number of pantry staples and it’s so easy to make, it will take you no time at all. Spicy Ethiopian-Style Red Lentil Stew Makes: 4 servings 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, minced 2 tbsp Berbere-inspired spice mix 2 tbsp tomato paste 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp grated ginger 1x900mL container sodium-reduced chicken stock 1 cup dried red lentils   Ricotta Cheese Garnish  ½ cup ricotta cheese 1 lemon, grated lemon zest Pinch ground black pepper Pinch salt   In large pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Cook onions; stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add Berbere spice mix, tomato paste, garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chicken stock and lentils. Bring to boil; reduce heat to simmer, covered, until lentils are tender, about 25 minutes.