Different themes of the classic Lentil Soup Recipe
The first lentil soup recipe is a classic lentil soup that tastes absolutely wonderful. This is my favorite lentil soup recipe and I have made it several times.The vinegar flavored 'roux' balances the lentil taste perfectly. By the way, 'roux' is a cooking term referring to a mixture of flour and butter that is used as the basis of a sauce or as a thickening agent for a soup. Also included on this page is a Jamican Lentil Soup made with lentils, vegetables and coconut. This recipe is also worth trying - you will be amazed at the taste!
I probably should mention that in the following recipes I use these abbreviations:- 't' refers to teaspoon
- 'T' refers to tablespoon
- 'c' means cup
- '#' means pound
- 'oz' means ounce
| Larry's Lentil Soup |
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| | | 1 # dried lentils (1 package) | | one half # bacon | | one half c chopped carrot | | 1 c chopped onion | | 1.5 c chopped green pepper | | 1.5 c chopped tomato | | 6 T butter | | 6 T flour | | 2 cans (10.5 oz) condensed beef bouillon | | 4 t salt | | 4 T white vinegar | | | | Fill a cooking pot with 10 cups cold water, add dried and rinsed lentils, bring to a boil, uncovered, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour. | | | | While the lentils are simmering, chop up the carrots, onions, peppers and tomatoes and put into a bowl to hold for sauteeing. Then cut bacon into small pieces and fry up in a skillet until crisp. | | | | When the bacon is done, place it on a paper towel on a plate to help absorb some fat and pour off some of the bacon grease making sure to save a couple tablespoons to saute up the vegetables. Fry up the vegetables on medium heat in the remaining bacon grease until done. I usually caramelize them by frying them until they start to turn brown. | | | | By now the lentils are probably done so add the bacon to the lentils and when the vegetables are caramelized add them to the lentils. | | | | Next, melt the butter in the fry pan and when melted, remove from the heat. Stir in the flour in small amounts stirring constantly (using a whisk really saves time) then gradually stir in the beef bouillon. Add salt and white vinegar and put back on the heat and stir until boiling. This flour/butter/bouillon mixture is called a 'roux' and is used here as a thickening agent as well as for a good solid background taste. When the mixture comes to a boil, pour it into the lentil pot making sure to scrape the bottom of the fry pan to get the bacon/sauteed vegetable residue into the roux. This is called
deglazing
and is extremely important to do. | | | | Cook the soup, covered, over low heat for about 30 minutes then serve. | | |
The next lentil soup recipe is for a 'Jamaican' style coconut, lentil soup. I made this on a whim just to see how it would come out. It came out so good that it is now one of my standard recipes - so here it is, enjoy...| Jamaican Coconut-Lentil Soup |
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| | | Add the following ingredients to a soup pot | | | | 1 # dried lentils (1 package) | | 4 c water | | 2 T vegetable oil | | 2 large chopped onions | | 2 large chopped carrots | | 16 scallions (green onions), chopped | | 2 yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces | | 4 c chopped cabbage | | 1 t fresh thyme, chopped | | 1 whole scotch bonnet (habenero) hot pepper | | 2 cans (13.5 oz each) coconut milk - do not confuse this with Coco Lopez sweetened coconut cream, use real canned coconut milk | | | | Bring all ingredients to a boil on high heat then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 50 to 60 minutes. Serve. | | |
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