Whew, winter is here big time!  We have more snow in the first few days of December than we usually have for the whole month!  And there’s more to come!  I am very thankful that I have new tires on my van, and while the freshly falling snow is gorgeous to look at and makes my children ecstatic, I wasn’t quite prepared for snow.  As a result, I am all about comfort and soup right now.  It’s very seldom that I take the time to cook for lunch.  usually, it’s leftovers or sandwiches or whatever I can throw together, but this past Monday Andy was home from work and wanted soup, so I set out to make a hearty lentil soup to take the winter chill off.

I initially started with a recipe from the most recent Healthy Cooking magazine for Italian-Style Lentil Soup.  I had most everything on hand that it called for, and it was quick to boot.  But as I started chopping, I changed a few things, and then as I tasted later on I added a few different things and left off a few ingredients.  So while inspired by the recipe in the magazine, my end creation is pretty different.  What I like best about this lentil soup is the use of beef broth.  Most lentil recipes I have call for veggie or chicken broth, and in this case, the beef broth combined with the tomato paste really give this soup some body and some depth.  It also gives this soup that stick-to-your-ribs hearty feeling that leaves you completely satisfied after having a bowl of this otherwise meat-free soup.  I did think that had I had some leftover bits of pot roast or beef of some kind that it would have been an excellent addition as well, but I certainly didn’t miss the meat.  This took care of Andy’s soup craving for the day as well, and the leftovers have been wonderful for lunch.

Italian-Style Lentil Soup

adapted from a recipe in Healthy Cooking

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped

2 smaller carrots, diced

6 cups water

1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh fennel fronds*

1 tablespoon beef soup base

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb blend

salt to taste

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling soup

Directions:

Drizzle the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, but not browned.

Stir in the water, lentils, fennel fronds, soup base, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let cook for about 25 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

Stir in the tomato paste, dried herbs and salt to taste.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Serve hot with Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on each serving.

Makes about 6 servings.

*Use the fresh herb that you have on hand.  Parsley, basil, and tarragon would all be excellent substitutions.