- This lentil soup recipe is great for cold days, served with crusty bread, fruit and cheese.
- You can adapt the recipe for no matter substances you may have available, particularly frozen veggies.
- It yields six servings and is nice for double-batching—excellent for leftovers and freezing.
Sometimes we have now an unseasonably heat and dry September in Vermont. So although the leaves begin to flip, my weekly dinner plan nonetheless screams summer time. Think: hearty dinner salads, grilled marinated rooster and pasta tossed with burrata, cherry tomatoes and tons of contemporary herbs.
But then, identical to that, every little thing modifications. The nights will likely be cool sufficient to sleep with out a fan or air-con. I’m carrying a sweatshirt till midday most days. And I’m really carrying socks for greater than understanding. In different phrases, soup season is lastly right here.
And the primary recipe I make yearly to kick off the very best season is One-Pot Lentil & Vegetable Soup with Parmesan. This soup is on heavy rotation within the colder climate months at my home. I nearly at all times have all the substances available, so I can principally whip it up on a whim. It serves not less than six, so we at all times have leftovers. It reheats fantastically for weekday lunches, nevertheless it additionally freezes like a dream. I’ve additionally been recognized to make a double batch so we are able to have leftovers and freeze some! My future self is so appreciative of that transfer.
While the recipe requires frozen mirepoix—a mixture of onion, celery and carrot—I exploit contemporary, sometimes going for a ratio of two components onion to at least one half every celery and carrot. After the veggies are good and mushy (I are likely to allow them to brown a bit too), I add the lentils, broth, canned tomatoes and seasonings. I like how French inexperienced or black lentils maintain their form, so I normally use these.
If I’m out of broth, I normally have bouillon paste that I’ll add together with water. The recipe as written just isn’t significantly brothy, so I normally double it, which has the additional advantage of creating extra servings. I nearly at all times have rooster broth available, in order that’s what I exploit, however any taste you may have will likely be scrumptious.
While the recipe requires salt, pepper and crushed crimson pepper, the secret-weapon seasoning is the elective Parmesan rind, which isn’t elective for my part and is the important thing to the soup’s deliciousness. While you don’t eat that a part of the cheese, it’s nonetheless full of salty, umami goodness, which supplies the soup a lot taste.
I purchase Parmigiano-Reggiano in large wedges at Costco (it’s one of many 4 cheeses I at all times purchase there!), and the wedges embody the rind, so I at all times have it available. (Whenever we end a wedge, I pop the rind in a bag within the freezer so I can add it to different soups and stews, too.) If you sometimes purchase shredded or grated Parmesan, it’s price shopping for a hunk with the rind for this use—I promise it’s price it!
After the soup simmers away, into the pot goes some chopped kale, however you probably have different greens within the fridge, go forward and use these—frozen chopped spinach works as effectively. The recipe requires including a slug of vinegar and a few chopped parsley earlier than serving, however I normally add lemon juice as a substitute for acidity and skip the parsley except I’ve some available.
When my dad and mom have been visiting, I made a pot of this soup on a very chilly fall day. I purchased a contemporary loaf of crusty bread and a few fancy cheeses and served these with it, together with some sliced apples and grapes. It made for a soul-satisfying meal. And my lentil-soup-loving dad requested me for the recipe.
