Recipe: Lentil Minestrone

Recipe

Lentil Minestrone

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra virgin to finish
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 carrots, diced
1 cup diced celery or celery root
1 cup French green lentils, sorted and rinsed
Aromatics: 2 bay leaves, 8 parsley branches,
6 thyme sprigs
9 cups water or Basic Vegetable Stock
Mushroom soy sauce to taste
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1 bunch greens—mustard, broccoli rabe, chard, or spinach
2 cups cooked small pasta—shells, orecchiette, or other favorite shape
Thin shavings of Parmesan, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

Serves 4 to 6

Heat the oil in a wide soup pot with the onion. Sauté over high heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, parsley, celery, garlic, vegetables, and 2 teaspoons salt and cook 3 minutes more. Add the lentils, aromatics, and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Taste for salt and season with pepper. If it needs more depth, add mushroom soy sauce to taste, starting with 1 tablespoon. (The soup may seem bland at this point, but the flavors will come together when the soup is finished.) Remove the aromatics.

Boil the greens in salted water until they're tender and bright green, then chop them coarsely. Just before serving, add the greens and the pasta to the soup and heat through. Serve with extra virgin olive oil drizzled into each bowl, a generous grind of pepper, and the Parmesan.

from:
Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone
by Deborah Madison
Published by Broadway Books;
October 8, 1997; 752 pages
Hardcover; $35-00 if purchased by January 1; $40.00 after
ISBN: 0-7679-0014-6
Reprinted by permission.