French Lentil Stew with Red Wine and Piave

Winter hollers soup.

I missed my New Year's lentils for longevity, health and prosperity, 

so maybe I can make up for it if I load up on them during my mid-week health craze.

I pulled this recipe together by marrying a few recipes I found in my cookbooks and online over the past few days, adapted it to our flavor palates, and actually made two versions; 

one vegetarian and brothy for me, 

and one thicker, stew-like version with thick cuts of Gary's smoked bacon for Todd.

Although the foundations were the same, and both very delicious, the outcomes were very different;

One, a resemblance of a super food, 

and the other,

 a resemblance of a heart stopper.

This is the beauty of cooking.

Choose your beast.

Recipe:

Serves 4-6 for a hearty meal 

Ingredients:

1 cup of french green lentils (found in health food stores or the organic section at most high end grocery stores). You can use regular green lentils, but they tend to break down and get mushy, especially if you want leftovers or plan on freezing the soup/stew. The french green lentils hold their firmness with grace.

3 carrots, sliced into coins (or smaller if you have little ones)

1 rib of celery, including leaves, cleaned and chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 bunch of green onions (+-8), white parts only, sliced into coins

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 sprig of thyme, 1 spring of rosemary and 2 sprigs of sage

Olive oil for simmering

2 ripe tomatoes, diced (or a can of San Marzano tomatoes, chopped)

4 tablespoons of tomato paste

1/4 cup of red wine

6 cups of vegetable broth

grated Piave, Parmesan or Romano for serving

Crusty Bread

*For the even heartier, carnivorous version par-cook thick cut smoked bacon and add to the soup during the simmer step (I cut the recipe in half and used 3 strips, chopped. If you wish to make the entire recipe carnivorous, use 6 strips). For my PA friends, I recommend using Gary's thick cut, double-smoked bacon here!

Steps:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Remove from heat and soak the lentils for thirty minutes. Drain and rinse the lentils.

2. Meantime, saute the onion, green onion, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme, rosemary and sage until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender (about 15 minutes).

3. Stir in the drained lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, and vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for an hour (*Add bacon here if you are using it. Make sure you par-cooked, drained and chopped it first).

5. Add red wine and simmer for about 15 minutes longer

6. Remove the sprigs left from thyme and rosemary. Taste soup. Salt and pepper if necessary.

7. Serve warm with shaved or grated Piave cheese and toast or crusty bread

*The recipe freezes and is left-over friendly, making it a healthy go-to meal!

Enjoy!