The Back Yard Lemon Tree

I’ve got a quite a few lentil soups on this site and when I first came across this recipe, my first thought was, do I really need to try another version of lentil soup. My second thought was I can’t believe there’s a legendary Ina Garten lentil soup recipe that I’ve never even heard of… I have to make this soup!

I trusted Ina that the soup would be good, but in fact this lentil soup is exceptional. The secret is the sofrito flavor base which is lots of onions and leeks sauteed for at least half an hour or more until they are meltingly soft and sweet. That along with loads of celery, carrot, some chopped fresh thyme and a hint of cumin or curry powder…. that’s right just a hint, the 1 teaspoon of cumin/ powder is not a typo. The original recipe calls for one tablespoon of salt but I started with 1/2 a tablespoon and found that it was salty enough.

Ina uses chicken stock but in this vegetarian version I use a good vegetarian stock and I increased the olive oil from 1/4 a cup to almost 1/2 a cup. I also use some Dulce sweet smoked paprika because it just adds that extra smokey, meaty X factor to vegetarian soups. The soup is simmered for an hour with the lid off so the stock, evaporates down and further intensifies the flavour.

This recipe makes a huge batch of soup so if you’re not feeding a crowd you can halve the recipe but it keeps well in the fridge for a week and it freezes excellently, so pull out your extra large soup pot and make a big mess of this soup. It will feed you for days as well as have leftovers to freeze for later.

You can serve this soup with garlic croutons or oven toast but for sheer winter comfort it’s hard to go past buttered toast dunked in hot soup .

Ina Garten’s Puy Lentil and Vegetable Soup

Serves 8-10

• 450 grams ( 1 pound) french style puy lentils
• Boiling water
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup of olive oil (plus more for serving)
• 3 large onions chopped
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large leeks, white and tender green parts only, chopped
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of sea salt ( or according to taste)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh ground black pepper plus more for seasoning
• 2 teaspoons of sweet smoked Dulce paprika (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon of cumin (or a teaspoon of curry powder)
• 8 celery ribs, diced
• 6 medium carrots, diced
• 3 litres (3 quarts) of vegetable stock (I use Maissel chicken style stock)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of dry red wine or red wine vinegar (or more according to taste)
• Finely chopped parsley and freshly grated parmesan to serve (optional)

1. In a large bowl cover the lentils with boiling water. Leave for 15 minutes, drain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a very large pot. Add onions, leeks, garlic, cumin or curry powder, smoked paprika, thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper and saute over a moderate/ low heat for stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes until onions are very soft.
3. Add carrots and celery and saute until vegetables begin to soften (about another ten minutes) Add tomato paste saute for another minute. Then add stock and lentils to the pot, cover and bring stock to the boil. Then uncover the pot lower heat to allow the soup to simmer uncovered until lentils are tender, about an hour.
4. Stir in vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve with a sprinkling of parsley, crusty bread or toast, parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.