Time for soup: lentil

I am not sure I quite get the connection between cooler weather, and soup, but it is certainly there. Yes, I understand: soup is warm and the weather is cold, but the general consensus that soup "warms you," just doesn't cut it for me. Soup doesn't warm me. Generally, if the soup is that hot, it burns my tongue, and any tissue that it touches on the way down my gullet. So, no, I don't see it.
But.... the affinity is there, even for me. Annalena almost never orders soup in a restaurant. Part of it is a sense that she is paying 9 dollars for a bowl of something that cost 13 cents to make. (Of course, that doesn't stop me with other courses, but let's not look at my inconsistencies today, hmmm?). This is true, even if the soups sound truly interesting. On Friday, however, I found myself more than intrigued by a celery root and boston lettuce soup at Savoy Restaurant, which was just amazing. And the fact is, I look forward to making soup while the Guyman is in rehearsal. I try to vary them and to be creative. Ultimately , t hough, many of them do rely on dried legumes.
So we move to lentils. Why lentils? Well, I am not quite sure. I do have bags and bags and bags of lentils in the cupboard, because I know they're good for us, and we should be eating them. And then I never cook them. I honestly do not remember the last time I made lentil soup. Nor do I know why I was moved to make it this time around. But make it I did. And it was good. And it's vegan, but you can change that if you like.

First, let's chat a bit about different types of lentils. The ones we are all most familiar with are the common brown ones, and this is probably why those of us who don't like them, don't like them. These are the ones you get for about 50 cents a bag, and which always carry a warning to wash them and to pick out stones before you cook them. It's good advice. Lentils grow very close to the ground, and I still remember picking out stones before cooking them. It isn't the stones, t hough that seems to cause the dislike of them people have. The brown lentils cook down to a very soft, unappealing mash. You couple this with their , ahem, not so attractive color, and you have a dish that only a mother could love. Unfortunately, this is the version of lentils most of us grew up with. If you grew up in a Southern Asian family , perhaps you were fortunate enough to have red lentils. These also cook up very soft, but to my taste they have a somewhat tart and fruity flavor, and unlike the brown ones, they do not thicken as heavily when you leave them in liquid. Hence, no problem with thick, viscous texture . You eat this as dhal in Indian restaurants, and while you can use them to make soup, the soup is very thin.

I suggest you go with one of two varieities. The French green lentil or the "lentil de puy," or a greenish/brown one from Italy, called a casteluccian lentil. Both of these retain their shape when cooked, and give a bit of substance when you chew. As a result, you almost treat them as "legume pasta" in the soup. They add their protein and t heir body, but they are not going to make a thick mess of things.

OK, here we go. And this makes a lot. First, you need your base. Lentils can take on a lot of varied flavors, and I'll talk about options. For mine, I used two large carrots, chopped, a couple of ribs of chopped celery, a large chopped onion, a cubed celery root, a few sprigs of thyme, and a bay leaf. Whenever I make lentil soup, or any legume soup, I put in a bay leaf. Just works for me. Take those chopped vegetables, and add them to about three tablespoons of olive oil that you've heated a bit. Stir them, until you've got them coated with oil, and let them cook away for a few minutes, say four or five. Then add the herbs. Finally, add 2 cups of dried lentils.

You may have noticed that I didn't tell you to pre-soak the lentils. I didn't forget. This is why lentils are a good friend to cooks. If you want to make a bean soup, but you forgot to soak the beans, you can use lentils. They don't need presoaking.

OK, now add a big teaspoon of salt (maybe even 2), and then two quarts of water. Bring the whole thing to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer, until the lentils are tender enough for you. I DO warn you that they are not going to turn into fall apart tender, but they will soften. For me, it was about thirty minutes.

Finally, at the end, I added two small heads of escarole, that I had chopped. This cooked down almost immediately. I pulled out the herbs, tested the seasoning, and we were done and happy.

If you like, and I do, you can add a large, chopped tomato to the vegetables at the start. You could also, at the end, add some cooked bacon, or sausage to the soup. Franks are great with this too. I am intrigued by the idea of using duck confit as a garnish (but I always AM intrigued by duck confit, as you all will learn tomorrow).

I cannot think of serving this without cheese and bread of some kind. If "bread," then it MUST be rye bread for me, t hickly sliced and thickly buttered. Pizza sounds good with it, especially if it is not tomato based. Corn muffins or popovers? Of course. I think you do need some kind of starch with it, because ultimately, this is a very substantial, strong soup, and the bread will lighten it just a bit.

Go for it. You want something warm and substantial for dinner that is not too expensive, and comes together quickly? Well, you got it.

Who says that Annalena does not pay attention to what people want? (Well, if someone says it, they're right...)