Last weekend, I decided I would try and will cold weather by making a big batch of our favorite lentil soup. It’s a Barefoot Contessa recipe, that we made all last winter, and well I had a whole bunch of lentils in the house, so there you go. What I did forget was how long this recipe takes to make. Not really for the actual cooking time, but the preparation took quite a bit of time. As Scott always calls out, I’m more methodical about this part of cooking, so I imagine for others, it might not take as long. Nonetheless, the soup turned out wonderful – and Scott said it’s my best batch ever.
Some tips
- I accidentally added 2 tsp. of kosher salt, instead of 1 tsp. and to balance it out, I swapped out the last 1 cup of chicken broth, with 1 cup of drinking water.
- To make vegetarian, use no-chicken broth.
- I used the produce count (3 onions, 6 carrots, 8 celery stocks, etc.) rather than the cup measurements.
- I like to use sweet onions – I think they have a more mellow flavor in the soup.
- The soup is great on its own, although I’m sure Ina’s suggestion to add a drizzle of olive oil and Parmesan on top tastes great too!
- This soup freezes REALLY well. It’s been our saving grace during busy weeks. I usually take it from the freezer to the fridge, a day or two before I am going to reheat.
The first 20 minutes – Onions, Leeks. Garlic, Thyme, Cumin, Salt, Pepper
Next 10 minutes with carrots and celery
Boil + Simmer with Broth, Tomato Paste + Lentils
Buon apetito!
