Hearty Delicious Lentil Soup

With fall just around the corner I decided to try making Lentil soup. Lentils are a healthy, and nutritious legume. They are easy to prepare, tasty, and easy on the pocket book. There are different types of lentils for making soups. I used green ones. They come highly recommended. I also give credit to David Pazmino from Americas Test Kitchen for this delicious recipe. We did make a few modifications, but this one It is our favorite.

Ingredients

• 1 cup ( 128 grams) dry green lentils
• 3 strips bacon cut into 1/4 inch pieces. See photo above.
• 1 cup ( 128 grams) diced onions
• 1 cup ( 128 grams) diced carrots
• 1 cup (128 grams) diced celery
• 1 tsp (6 grams) salt (salt to taste)
• 1 tsp (6 grams) pepper (pepper to taste)
• 1 tsp (6 grams) of thyme
• 1 bayleaf
• 4 cups ( 1 liter) of chicken broth ( 1 carton)
• 1 16 oz. (1/2 liter) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup( 4 ounces / 120 ml) dry white wine (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic (optional)

Instructions

• Fry the bacon pieces in a 2 quart pot over medium high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes until it is crisp. Remove from heat.
• Add onions, carrots and celery and return to heat. Stir about 2 or 3 more minutes until vegetables begin to get soft.
• Stir in the tomatoes, bay leaf and thyme. Stir until they become fragrant; about 30 seconds.
• Stir in lentils, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook on medium low heat covered for another 8 to 10 minutes.
• Uncover and increase heat to high. Add chicken broth and wine. bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 30 to 35 minutes, until lentils are soft.
• Put the soup into a blender and puree.

I put only half of the soup into the blender and saved the second half in the freezer for another meal.

Enjoy!! My husband loves this! It may be the bacon which adds so much flavor and delicious aroma through out the house. Grilled cheese sandwiches are a perfect companion with this soup