Lentil Soup

With Helene Spoto

This hearty soup is tasty, healthy and easy to make. The best part is after you cook it; you can serve it two different ways. It can be served as is with crusty bread for a rustic style main dish, or pureed to a smooth, creamy texture fancy enough to be served as part of a gourmet meal. Surprisingly, you may notice the soup tastes different in both styles. Either way, you will really enjoy it. This video was filmed in the Doyon's Kitchen & Appliance Showroom at the Doyon's location in Gloucester, MA. You can obtain more information at their web site; www.doyonsappliance.com

Ingredients

1/8-cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups dry lentils
8 cups water
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, add the oil, onions, carrots, and celery and garlic.
2. Sauté until the onions starts to look translucent.
3. Stir in the bay leaf, oregano, and basil and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Rinse the lentils.
5. Add the lentils, water and tomatoes to the pot. Bring to a boil.
6. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
7. When the soup is ready, season with salt and pepper to taste.


To Serve Rustic Style:

Ladle into bowls and drizzle with olive oil.

To Serve Gourmet Style:

Using an emersion blender, puree the soup until it is smooth and creamy.
Caution: Be careful to keep the blender stick submerged in the soup while you puree to prevent any hot liquid from splashing out of the pot. If you do not have an emersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Puree the soup in small batches. Caution: Because the soup is hot, be sure to allow some heat to escape while blending to prevent pressure from building inside the unit causing any hot soup to explode from the top. Remove the center cap from the top cover. Use a dishtowel to cover the top and hold it in place with your hand while blending. Once you put the soup in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with fresh chopped parsley for added color.


Recipe courtesy of Helene's Custom Cuisine, 2010.

Proprietor & Cooking Instructor, "Helene's Custom Cuisine - Personal and Business Culinary Services."

Helene is still surprised how she became a cooking instructor. She always loved to cook, however, having a busy career as co-owner of Sentry Financial Planning in Burlington & Danvers; she didn’t have much time to spend in the kitchen. Looking for ways to simplify her cooking while still making great food, she learned to adapt recipes in order to make them quick, healthy and still taste great. Helene was so excited about her discoveries she began sharing them with family and friends. She had no idea that this hobby would turn into an opportunity to show so many people how easy this can be as a cooking instructor for the past six years.

With Helene’s Custom Cuisine, her goal, whether it’s a private or group cooking class, interactive dinner party, team building event or corporate on-site cooking demonstration, is to help people discover that preparing delicious food can be done quickly and easily with great results.

Still, the most important three words to describe my cooking are: Quick Healthy Delicious

She lives in Andover with her husband, John.