Lentil Soup

Hi Everyone, I think it's time for soup.  When I was four years old my grandmother taught me how to cook lentil soup.  I remember being in her kitchen, standing on a chair next to the stove with her beside me.  I did what she was doing in my very own little pot.  Later that day my cousin Roseanne and her mother, my great aunt Isabel came to Grandma's house.  I idolized my cousin Roseanne who was four years older than I.  She made me laugh uncontrollably and got us into mischief which always got her into trouble because she was older.  Well, that afternoon I gave Roseanne some of my lentil soup and she turned to her mother and said, "this is better than yours" whereupon Aunt Isabel slapped her!  Well, I know that my Italian family thinks food is very important, but this was going too far!  So be careful with this recipe, it's been known to make people violently jealous.

Lentil Soup:

Saute a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, a medium onion, 2 or 3 chopped celery stalks, and salt in olive oil.  When the onions and celery soften, add about 2/3 of a cup of lentils and about a quart of water and salt.  Let it come to a boil the reduce the heat and let it simmer.    While the soup is simmering, add two sliced carrots and about 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley and about 1/2 cup of a green of your choice.  Escarole is good as is spinach, swiss chard, kale etc. Let the soup cook for about an hour.  It's ready when there are no more individual lentils and the lentils are all blended.  At this point my grandmother would add some pasta and let it cook in the soup.  She used linguine.  Shells are good too.  If you add pasta only use a little as too much will eat up all of your soup.  Some grated parmigiano cheese sprinkled on top of your bowl finishes it off nicely.  Of course, as with most soups, it is even better the next day.   Mmmmmmmmmm, soup.  Enjoy!  Xo