- This lentil soup recipe is great for chilly days and is served with crusty bread, fruit and cheese.
- You can adapt the recipe to whatever ingredients you have on hand, especially frozen vegetables.
- It makes six servings and is great for doubling portions – perfect for leftovers and freezing.
Sometimes in Vermont we have an unseasonably warm and dry September. Even though the leaves are starting to change color, my weekly dinner schedule still screams summer. Think hearty salads for dinner, grilled marinated chicken, and pasta with burrata, cherry tomatoes, and lots of fresh herbs.
But then, just like that, everything changes. Nights will be cool enough to sleep without a fan or air conditioning. Most days I wear a sweatshirt until lunch. And in fact, I don’t just wear socks for training. In other words: Soup season is finally here.
And the first recipe I make every year to kick off the best season is a one-pot lentil and vegetable soup with parmesan. This soup is often served on rotation at my house in the colder months. Since I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, I can prepare it as I please. It’s enough for at least six people, so we always have leftovers. It heats up beautifully for weeknight lunches, but also freezes beautifully. I have also been known to make double the batch so we have some left over And freeze something! My future self is very grateful for this step.
While the recipe calls for frozen mirepoix – a mixture of onions, celery and carrots – I use fresh, usually a ratio of two parts onions to one part each celery and carrots. After the vegetables are nice and soft (I also let them brown a little), I add the lentils, broth, canned tomatoes and spices. I like how French green or black lentils hold their shape, so I usually use those.
If I’m out of stock, I usually use bouillon paste, which I add along with water. The recipe described isn’t particularly brothy, so I usually double it, which has the added benefit of being able to make more servings. I almost always have chicken stock on hand so I use that, but any flavor is delicious.
While the recipe calls for salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper, the secret weapon for seasoning is the optional parmesan rind, which in my opinion is not optional and is key to the soup’s deliciousness. Even though you don’t eat this part of the cheese, it’s still full of salty, umami goodness that adds so much flavor to the soup.
I buy Parmigiano-Reggiano in large chunks at Costco (it’s one of the four cheeses I always buy there!), and the chunks contain the peel so I always have it on hand. (When we’re done with a piece of Parmesan, I put the peel in a bag in the freezer so I can add it to other soups and stews as well.) If you normally buy grated or grated Parmesan, it’s worth buying a piece with the peel on for this purpose – I promise it’s worth it!
After the soup is simmering, add some chopped kale to the pot, but if you have other vegetables in the fridge, just use that – frozen chopped spinach works too. The recipe calls for adding a splash of vinegar and some chopped parsley before serving, but I usually add lemon juice instead to increase the acidity and omit the parsley unless I have some on hand.
When my parents were visiting, I made a pot of this soup on a particularly cool fall day. I bought a fresh loaf of crusty bread and some fancy cheeses and served those on the side, along with some sliced ​​apples and grapes. It made for a soul-satisfying meal. And my lentil soup-loving father asked me for the recipe.
