French Lentil Soup

Last night I didn't really now what to make for dinner because I thought I would have some Paul Dean leftovers for dinner. So to my sort of surprise Mike must have really liked the Paul Dean Goulash thing (I still need a good name for it because it isn't really goulash...maybe Slop or Mess or just Paul Dean but since it doesn't contain butter I don't think I could call it that) and took it to work 2 days in a row for lunch.

I decided to make lentil soup from scratch because I haven't done that in a while and I thought I would make that into a meal. I searched for a recipe just to get the correct amount of ingredients together. I came across this recipe which I thought was interesting and different from any type I made before.




French Lentil Soup
Bon Appétit December 2006
Makes 6 servings.

3 tablespoons extra–virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery stalks plus chopped celery leaves for garnish
1 cup chopped carrots
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups lentils, rinsed, drained
1 14 1/2–ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium–high heat. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Add 4 cups broth, lentils, and tomatoes with juice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium–low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes.

Transfer 2 cups soup (mostly solids) to blender and puree until smooth. Return puree to soup in pan; thin soup with more broth by 1/4 cupfuls, if too thick. Season with salt, pepper, and a splash of vinegar, if desired. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with celery leaves.

Review: I don't know how I feel about the taste of this dish yet because I didn't really eat it hot but what I did eat I thought was good. I made about 1 1/2 times the recipe because I wanted to use the full bag of lentils and not have a partial bag leftover. In terms of difficulty this recipe is very simple to make and not really time consuming...I would say about an hour from start to finish and half that time is waiting for the lentils to be done cooking. I would make it again and maybe next time add some sausage/hot dog to it. I would also love to make french bread to go with this recipe...lol.