This is a great soup for cold nights! Got a baguette from Trader Joe’s that you crisp up in the oven to eat with it. Found it at cooking classy.com Made it tonight and I didn’t dice the zucchini, sliced it and it took longer to cook. Also, I added my own “zen” (meaning whatever is lying around) vegetable broth, but it needed something else. I added one can of chicken broth. Ran this recipe past my Italian buddy that is a chef and she said to use fresh herbs vs dry and to add a rind of parmesan which I forgot to do….Dang! NEXT TIME!
Lentil Soup (Italian Vegetable)
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups diced carrots (3 medium)
- 1 1/2 cups diced yellow onions (1 medium)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (4 cloves)
- 4 (14.5 oz) cans vegetable broth
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils , rinsed and picked over
- 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups diced zucchini (1 medium)
- 2 cups packed chopped kale or spinach
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Parmesan cheese , for serving (optional)
Instructions
-
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
-
Add carrots and onions and saute 2 minutes then add garlic and saute 2 minutes longer.
-
Pour in vegetable broth and tomatoes. Add in lentils, basil, oregano, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.
-
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-
Add in zucchini and kale and simmer 10 minutes longer, if using spinach wait to add it until the last 2 minutes.
-
Stir in lemon juice and add up to 1 cup of water to thin as needed (as the soup rests the lentils soak up more of the broth).
-
Serve warm with parmesan cheese if desired
Weir Talk 