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Lentil soup with bacon

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!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 4 people
Cuisine: Italian
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

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
  • 150 g green lentils
  • 1 lemon zested
  • 2 large parsnips
  • 1 handful of parsley chopped

Method
 

  1. Peel and chop the onion. Cut the bacon into small cubes. Peel the carrots and swede, cut them into bite-sized pieces.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Bring to the boil then, at low temperature, simmer for 10 minutes.
  5. Peel the parsnips and cut them into 2 cm pieces, then add these to the soup.
  6. Simmer on a low heat for 25-30 minutes, then add half the parsley and take off the heat.
  7. Using a hand-held blender, blitz for a few seconds, until you get a thick coarse soup.
  8. Add the rest of the lemon zest and the garnish with the remaining parsley.
  9. Serve with wholesome, crusty bread!