Halloween Lentils
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 Medium onion
3 Carrots
3 celery ribs
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup white wine
1 bag dry lentils, rinsed
8 cups water or chicken stock
3 beef rib bones, or small pork butt, optional
1 bag baby spinach, washed
1 bay leaf
1 " piece of Parmesan rind
parsley
Kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper
chop your onion, carrot and celery into half inch pieces, and place in a large pot with 2 tbsp olive oil, add 1/2 tsp salt, and saute on medium for 6 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the lentils and toast in the pot for 2 minutes. Add the white wine, and let it boil off until most of the liquid is gone.
At this point, add your water or stock, bay leaf, parsley if using dried, and meat, if using. bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer. Add the Parmesan rind and simmer for about an hour on low with the pot cover on, but letting steam escape. Stir occasionally so the lentils do not stick, and add more water if soup becomes too thick. Test for salt and pepper, and add as needed. I don't measure this.
When all vegetables and lentils are tender, and right before serving, take out the meat, if using, add the spinach, and stir. The spinach will only take about 5 minutes, then serve with Parmesan cheese on top and a sprinkle of olive oil. Some nice crusty bread goes great with this!
Note: This can be a vegetarian meal, or if using water, you can use 2 packets of chicken flavoring to add more depth to the flavor of the soup. Just be aware of not over-salting, as some of these are salty on their own.
you can also add cooked pasta to this soup. I always made it on Halloween because I was out trick or treating with the kids, and wanted something I could heat up easily. So much better than waiting for the pizza delivery guy!