Ham and Lentil Soup

Serve with some toasty Natural Yeast Bread.

Comfort food.  Most people will read this and think of a baked Mac and Cheese...  (Fleming's Steakhouse please!)  Or maybe a fall-apart pot roast paired with roasted potatoes and carrots.  (I will blog that one later... promise!)  For me, it's soup.  

Alas - my children are over it, ready to breakup with anything that resembles soup, and I am not.  I'm still smitten and in love.  :O)  The weather down here in Texas isn't helping the relationship my children have with soup... we're enjoying a lovely winter with 70 PLUS degrees each day, making it hard to successfully cheerlead soup when presented for dinner.  

My arsenal of dinner choices have been shaped for nearly 12 years by blowing wind and a balmy 20 SOMETHING degrees in Idaho.  Nine months of winter used to make it easy to keep my love of soup  going strong... Not so much when we really only have 3 months of winter (and sometimes that's an exaggeration!)  So these will be for you out there... those of you with frost in the corner of your windows, deep in snow, with freezing toes and fingers and in need of a hot winter soup.

I have updated my arsenal of soups, photos and all, and have double checked my amounts by making each recipe again to make sure each of my steps were included in the final edits.  

Here is the first in the lineup...

ENJOY!

Ham and Lentil Soup

3 Tablespoons olive oil 

1 1/2 medium onions, chopped

6-8 stalks of celery, sliced

2-3 lbs. (12-15) carrots, peeled and sliced

3 teaspoons sea salt - OR 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 

1 bundle garlic, pressed

2 bay leaves 

2 teaspoons thyme

2 quarts chicken stock 

2 cups water

1 pound ham, cubed 

1 pound lentils 

1/4 cup chopped parsley or parsley flakes

In a large pot, over medium heat, add the oil. 

When the oil is hot, add in the following order: onions, celery, and then carrots.  Sauté vegetables until soft and onions start to caramelize.

Add cubed ham pieces.  Stir.   

Add minced garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Sauté for 4 minutes. 

Add liquids, parsley, bay leaves and lentils.

Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 30-45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. 

Re-season with salt and pepper if needed. 

Serve with a natural yeast bread.

*** OPTIONAL:   Add 2-3 yukon/yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed, at the last 20 minutes of cooking.

*** NOTE:  Excellent freezer dinner!

Gather up your stuff!

Always start with your onions...
It keeps everything else from sticking to the pan.

Add your carrots as  you get them peeled and sliced.
I've come to realize how much this is a needed,
dare I say required SOUP STEP.
Your carrots and other veggies need to be prep-cooked.
No one wants to crunch a carrot while eating soup...
Just saying...

Next!  Celery.

Find yourself a cooked ham - or cook one and use the leftovers.
Either way, you'll need about a pound of it!  :O)

Cube it up...

Add it in...

As your adding all your ingredients,
keep everything stirred up and moving about.
You'll notice the onions and carrots start to caramelize a bit...
It's what you want to see!
But do not leave it too long, it will burn.

And then GARLIC.
(Insert heavenly smells here.)

NOTE:  Add all of your garlic at once.
DO NOT add bit by bit as you mince.
It will cook quickly and you do not want to burn it.

Chicken broth - Anyway you like it.
Box.  Can.  Homemade.  Better Than Bullion.
Bullion if you can find it these days...
Whatever you want.  :0)

Rinse and add your 1 pound of lentils.

Bring to a full boil and then let simmer 1/2 hour to 1  1/2 hours.

As your soup cooks down, add water as needed.
NOTE: You may need to add salt and pepper
depending on how much water is added!
Taste your soup before serving...
add only 1/2 teaspoon of salt and/or pepper
at a time until desired taste is achieved.

Serve with some toasty Natural Yeast Bread.
I prefer a Natural Yeast Bread with added flaxseed,
but do not have a photo of it...
Will update when I think of it!  :0)

Are you in love too???

Click Link FOR:     Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS