Umbrian Minestra di lenticchie - Lentil Soup from Castelluccio
The lentils from the Castelluccio plateau are so small and thin-skinned that they cook in half an hour without soaking. The soup needs no meat, no stock cube and no cream - and misses none of them.
- 60 minutes
- 6 servings
- Main course
- vegan
- nut-free
- lactose-free
- rich in iron
- high in fibre
- high in protein
- blood-sugar balancing
- plant-based
Ingredients
- 300 g Green lentils (weighed dry, small mountain variety, not soaked)
- 250 g Tomatoes (diced)
- 150 g Carrots (finely diced)
- 150 g Celery (celery sticks, finely diced)
- 150 g Onion (finely diced)
- 120 g Wholemeal bread (toasted as crostini and set under the soup)
- 40 g Olive oil (half for sweating, half raw on the plate)
- 12 g Garlic
- 6 g Salt (add only once the lentils are soft)
- 2 g Sage (five leaves)
- 1 g Bay leaf (one leaf, remove at the end)
- 1600 ml Water
Instructions
- Sweat onion, carrot and celery gently in half the olive oil for 15 minutes until they smell sweet and have taken no colour.
- Add garlic, sage and bay leaf and let them cook for a minute.
- Add the tomatoes and reduce for ten minutes.
- Add lentils and water and simmer gently for 30 to 35 minutes until the lentils are soft and some have broken down. Do not let it boil hard or they all burst.
- Only now add the salt and remove bay leaf and sage.
- Toast the bread slices in a dry pan, put them in the plates and ladle the soup over. Serve with the raw olive oil.
Linsen zu Neujahr
In Italy lentils are eaten on New Year's Eve because their flat round shape recalls coins - the more you eat, the more money the year is said to bring. The custom goes back to Roman times, when a leather purse full of lentils was given as a new-year gift.
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