Green Lentil Soup

The lentil soup is a delicious warm dish, great for cold winter evenings.

Ingredients:

1 carrot finely chopped

1 celery stick

1 onion finely chopped 

350 gr green lentils (soak for at least 2 hours)

1 rosemary spring

1 spring of sage

2 bay leaves

750 ml vegetables stock

200 gr lardons

Preparation:

Step1:-warm olive oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat and add the chopped vegetables

-fry gently for about 5 min until translucent (Fig 1)

Figure 1

-drain the lentils and add to vegetables. Continue cooking for 5 min, stirring (Fig 2)

Figure 2

Step2:-tie the herbs to make a bouquet garni and add to the pan together with the stock
-simmer the soup over medium heat for about one hour until the lentils are soft
-discard the bouquet garni and set aside 4 spoonfuls of lentils to garnish (Fig 3)

Figure 3

Step3:-blend the soup in a food processor(Fig 4) and push through a sieve (Fig 5)

Figure 4

Figure 5

-pour back into a pan, season to taste and bring back to boil

Step4:-fry the lardons in a different pan with a splash of oil until start to crisp (Fig 6)

Figure 6

-add the bacon to the soup and sprinkle chopped parsley

Serve hot with a splash of virgin olive oil, toasted croutons and grated Parmesan.