Lentil Soup
Pearl Roseman Reprinted with permission from California Kitchen: Contemporary and Traditional Jewish Cuisine
This delicious vegetarian soup can be made in a pressure cooker or regular soup pot.
Food Editor's note: This lentil soup is pareve, unlike many others which require chicken stock. But the flavor is full-bodied, due to the addition of tomatoes and other vegetables, and various herbs and spices. It is quite easy to prepare, and if you make it in a pressure cooker, as I do, it will be ready in about an hour! Chop the celery, carrots, and onion in the food processor (separately) to speed up the preparation time. Ingredients: 4 tablespoons oil 1 cup finely diced celery 1 cup finely diced carrots 1/3 cup chopped onions 2 cups lentils (thoroughly washed in a sieve under running water) 6 cups water 2 1/4 cups stewed tomatoes 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 4 whole cloves 1 small bay leaf Sauté celery, onion and carrots in oil in a 6-quart pressure cooker, approximately 4 minutes. Add lentils with all the remaining ingredients. Cook at 15 pounds pressure for 40 minutes. [Food editor's note: Even though I am an experienced pressure cooker user, I did not know what this meant. I cooked the soup for 40 minutes with the regulator rocking gently.] Cool cooker quickly according to manufacturer's directions.
In a conventional soup pot, sauté the vegetables in oil until soft and translucent. Add lentils with remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for approximately 2 hours.
Variation: Add 4 sliced kosher franks or 1/2 to 1 cup sliced salami when serving as a meat dish. [Food editors note: I have not tried this.]
Serves 8-10.
This recipe is reprinted with permission from California Kosher: Contemporary and Traditional Jewish Cuisine, the popular cookbook of the Women's League of Adat Ari El Synagogue in North Hollywood, California (latest edition: 1995).
Lentil Soup ShalomBoston.com
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