Lentil soup is a hearty, simple, flavorful dish, rich in aroma, perfect for warming up our winter evenings. It is a preparation that contains no gluten or lactose, light but nutritious, and can be personalized as we like, adding spices and aromas to make the soup even more inviting and limit the use of fats. It’s good both freshly made and enjoyed the next day. Lentil soup can be accompanied by croutons (flavored with garlic and extra virgin olive oil), polenta croutons, stewed vegetables, mashed potatoes, etc. Unlike other legumes like beans, chickpeas, cicerchie, and so on, lentils do not need to be pre-soaked, so they can be prepared at the last minute. Let’s see what we need to make this delight.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 14 oz lentils
- as needed water
- 1 onion
- 1 stalk celery
- as needed coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
Steps
Rinse the lentils thoroughly under running water and place them in a large pot.
Add the bay leaves, the celery (already washed), and the onion, both finely chopped.
Cover with water, enough to rise about two fingers above the lentils, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat.
As soon as the lentils reach a boil, reduce the heat to low, leave a small gap between the lid and the pot, and cook.
Check the cooking occasionally, and when the lentils start to become tender, salt them, mix well, turn off the heat, cover with the lid perfectly, and let them finish cooking in the hot water with the heat off. This not only saves gas but also prevents the lentils from becoming mushy. The lentil soup is ready to be served with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil added raw and a grind of white pepper, if desired.
The cooking broth can be used to cook pasta, rice, or polenta.
Bon appetit
The extra idea. Besides the celery and onion, in this case left whole and only deprived of the waste parts, we add to the lentils, before cooking, two whole carrots (also devoid of waste parts) and two whole peeled potatoes. Once cooked, we take the carrots, onion, celery, and potatoes and blend them together with a ladle of cooking broth until we obtain a succulent and fragrant purée. We combine the purée with the lentils, mix well, add extra virgin olive oil, and serve our lentil soup, accompanied by croutons or polenta croutons and a grind of fresh pepper.
