I sit here in my office looking out of my arch
window and watch the rain stream on. I can hear the cars driving by through
showery puddles and the trickling of water coming down the pipes of my house
and into little ponds. It's a peaceful sound and perfect hot soup weather.
This soup is a beauty. When I think of cooked
tomatoes I think of tasty comfort food. This combination of lentils, tomato
& fennel is homey Italian food at its simplist and best. What I adore about
soups, aside from the fact that they warm up any wintery day, is that you throw
everything in a pot and once it has come to the boil, you simply reduce the
heat and get on with something around the house or computer.
Everybody knows lentils are good for you: high
in protein, iron & B vitamins (particularly B3). Fennel is good for
digestion and tummy troubles. So we know this soup is good for you, and
nourishing on a comfort level, but food isn't just about that for me; it's also
about passion and it's about the story that the ingredients tell when paired
together. It's a romance, a friendship, and chance meeting of minds or bodies.
The flavours of the fennel, tomato & herbs
are so complimentary they wrap their arms around each other in a love filled
moment of joy. You have the sweet rich fruity notes of cooked tomato then the
earthy almost sandy texture of the full bodied lentils and along comes the
aniseed-y fennel notes that freshen and lighten up this soup as it does this
little dance on your palette. It's so perfectly balanced it’s an old love
affair rich in history!
If you haven't played with this combination,
then do, it's good, it will become a winter staple, something you pull out of
your hat on those cold, drizzly days to cheer up friends and family. I love it
with fresh olive bread & herby pesto.
Makes
= 4 medium bowls
1 cup puy lentils (or beluga or green)
2 small fennel bulbs, chopped finely include
feathery tips
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbs Italian herbs
1 tps good salt
add pepper to taste
3 cups filtered water, and more as needed
Put the lentils, onion, fennel & garlic in a
medium size saucepan and cover with 3
cups of water. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer.
Add the Italian herbs and pepper but not the
salt (it prevents lentils from cooking).
Some lentils can be thirstier than others, so if
needed, add a little more water. Be sure to keep the lentils and fennel covered
in water but not too much. You want to cook them not drown them and we want
this soup to be thick and hearty.
Once the lentils and fennel are soft, add the
tomatoes and salt and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Season the soup to your taste if needed.
I like to blend a little of the soup with a
stick blender (barmix), not too much as I love the body of the lentils and the
soft fennel pieces falling apart in my mouth.
Garnish with pepper, olive oil & herb pesto
if desired.
