Lentil soup with bacon
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Total Time
1 hour
Background
This lentil soup with bacon is perfect on wintery days. It's full of vegetables which makes it hearty and filling, so it can be served as a main meal. It's also a perfect dish on New Year's day when, tradition has it, we're supposed to eat lentil & pork to bring us luck in the coming year. Importantly, it's a very easy dish to make - even if you have a hangover!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3-4 rashes of smoked bacon
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- ½ (large) or 1 small swede
- 1 litre basic soup (vegetable or chicken)
- 150g green lentils
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 large parsnips
- 1 handful of parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Peel and chop the onion. Cut the bacon into small cubes. Peel the carrots and swede, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and bacon pieces, fry for 1-2 minutes, while stirring. Add the garlic, carrots and swede pieces. Sauté for about 5 minutes.
- When the bacon starts to brown and the onion is soft, pour in the stock, add the rinsed lentils and add half of the lemon zest.
- Bring to the boil then, at low temperature, simmer for 10 minutes.
- Peel the parsnips and cut them into 2 cm pieces, then add these to the soup.
- Simmer on a low heat for 25-30 minutes, then add half the parsley and take off the heat.
- Using a hand-held blender, blitz for a few seconds, until you get a thick coarse soup.
- Add the rest of the lemon zest and the garnish with the remaining parsley.
- Serve with wholesome, crusty bread!
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Categories
- Meal Type: - Everyday - Lunch - Main - One Pot - Supper
- Cuisines: - Italian
- Occasions: - Bonfire Night - New Year
- Ingredients: - Lentils - Pork
- Health and Diet: - Combination - Dairy Free - Gluten Free - High Fibre - Low Carb
- Skill Levels: - Easy
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