Sally's Recipe of the Week: Lentil, Leek and Vegetable Soup
Serves 4 to 5
Here is what you will need:
1 1/2 quarts of chicken stock
1 cup lentils
2 leeks
1 onion
2 carrots
3 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tyme
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 or 2 TBS red wine vinegar- start with one, taste and add more if needed
few sprigs of fresh parsley
parmesan cheese for topping
olive oil
salt and pepper
Chop up your onion, carrots and celery.
Remove the outer layer from leeks, snip the and remove the top darker green part. Split the leeks down the middle and slice into little half moons.
Rinse the leeks.
In a large pot heat 2 TBS of olive oil, saute the onion, carrots, celery and leeks until they soften, adding the garlic towards the end. stir garlic for a minute until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the tomato paste and stir it in until you can really smell it.
Add in the spices, stir a bit then add in the stock and lentils.
Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer and cover for about an hour.
When the lentils are soft, add in the vinegar and parsley, taste and season if needed and simmer 5 more minutes.
Serve with some grated Parmesan cheese!