Hearty Lentil Soup [Recipe]

It’s soup season.  And I absolutely love hearty soups with legumes.  So when I came across this recipe from fellow RD on Iceberg to Arugula, I knew I had to try it.

Not only is this recipe super easy it’s also packed with flavor.  Little D will eat anything with a spoon so he enjoyed it.  Big A didn’t try it but commented on how pretty it was.  It was even better leftover with lunch.

The only problem I had was my lentils took more than 40 minutes to cook.  I posted this problem on facebook and someone said the lentils need to be fresh.  Mine probably weren’t that “fresh” as I used some I found during the move.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Makes: 8 cups

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
-1 large yellow onion, chopped
-2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and sliced
-2 ribs celery, trimmed and sliced
-2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
-2 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
-2 tsp dried thyme
-1 cup dry lentils (any kind will work)
-4 cups low sodium beef or vegetable stock
-1 smoked ham hock (optional)
-1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
-Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme. Cover pot. Stir occasionally and if vegetables begin to turn brown, stir and reduce heat to medium-low.

2. When vegetables are tender, add tomatoes, stock, lentils and ham hock (if using)

3. Stir soup and turn heat up to high until soup is boiling, then reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30-40 minutes.

4. Remove soup from heat and extract the ham hock if using. Cut as much meat from the ham hock as possible, cut into bite sized pieces and add back to the soup.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in Balsamic vinegar.

Freezes well (use within 3 months).