Niamh Shields burst onto the blogging scene in 2007 and has since snapped up countless accolades for her food writing by The Times, The Telegraph and The Stylist, to name a few. Niamh is passionate about cooking, and when she's not travelling the world collecting culinary tips, she's at home concocting new and interesting meals for friends and family, including her foody fledgling niece. Here, Niamh shares all her know-how for delicious and easy home-cooking.
Hearty and wholesome lentil, bacon & spinach soup
By
1 comment
Another soup this week, seeing as it's that kind of weather and I suspect that you are craving them as soups as much as I am.
This is a really simple and very hearty staple in my kitchen. Red lentil and bacon being the base, and I occasionally add other stuff to it, on this occasion, some spinach.
Lentils are very cheap and really delicious and I think they get a bad rep. Some people ate too many while students but if you look to French cooking you see lentils everywhere. All types of lentils: puy, black, orange and yellow to name a few.
For this soup I have used red lentils, as I love that they become mushy, and they also cook quickly so they make for a relatively quick and delicious soup. They are also available everywhere, some of the others can be more difficult to source.
I say bacon here, but I actually use guanciale, an Italian bacon of sorts made from the cured jowl of the pig. You can substitute pancetta, streaky bacon or any bacon you fancy. You just want that rich savoury flavour with the earthy lentils.
If you want to make a vegetarian version, simply exclude the bacon and add a couple of peeled, deseeded and diced tomatoes with the onion at the start.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients
250g red lentils
1.25 litre light stock like chicken or vegetable
1 onion, finely chopped
100g streaky bacon or pancetta, diced
150g baby leaf spinach
1 bay leaf
Method
If you are using streaky bacon or pancetta, fry until brown over a medium heat with no oil – the fat of the bacon/pancetta is enough. If you are using back bacon, fry in a tablespoon of oil like sunflower or groundnut.- Add the onion and fry for a further five minutes over a reduced heat so that it doesn’t brown.
- Add the stock, bay leaf and lentils and cook for 20 minutes until the lentils have gone mushy. They will be paler in colour and will have significantly expanded.
- Add the spinach and cook until wilted, it will take just a couple of minutes.
- Serve as is, the textures are part of this soups charm and it doesn’t need to be blended.
Enjoy!
Comments