You will need
One bag of dried lentils
A few tablespoons of olive oil ( I use two to three)
Chopped up onions, celery, and carrots. Enough to fill up the bottom of a semi large pot. I use Mirepoix 14.5 oz from Trader Joe’s, it is already pre-cut and I just add my own garlic. I use about six garlic cloves.
If you do not find Mirepoix use one large onion, two carrots, and two celery stalks, chopped fine.
Two cartons of vegetable stock 32 fl oz. I use trader Joe’s. You can use regular or low sodium, I have tried both. I usually use the low sodium vegetable broth.
One large can of diced tomatoes in juice.
One small can of tomato paste
Sea salt, ground pepper, dried basil.
Parmesan cheese to garnish
Saute garlic, onion, celery, and carrots in olive oil for a few minutes til the onion caramelizes and the vegetables cook down. Salt,pepper, and add some basil as you are cooking the vegetables. After they cook down mix in one small can of tomato paste.
Add full bag of lentils, 2 cartons of vegetable stock, and whole can of tomatoes with juice. You may need to add a little bit of water to fill pot up.
Add a bit more salt, pepper, and dried basil for flavor and stir.
Bring to a rolling boil, then simmer on low for 45 minutes covered.
When finished you can sprinkle Parmesan cheese and mix it in for more flavor.
I once sauteed some kale and added it to the soup right before it was finished cooking. It made it richer and more stew like.
I serve this with warmed whole grain bread from the bakery. It is absolutely delicious.
I hope you try and enjoy my Italian Lentil Soup Recipe. I love it and sometimes it is difficult to only have one bowl. Love and light to all from my west coast home to yours. Ciao for now.
Namaste’
Rose
