Lebanese Lentil Soup

Last winter, my husband an I stayed for a few days in Trieste, Italy. We enjoyed the local cuisine, which was like mountain Italian food (beefy goulash soup with gnocchi, for example), but I was so excited to find a Lebanese restaurant there. That's hard to find where we live. We went there for a meal and enjoyed some lentil soup when it was very cold outside. After we came home, I found this recipe and re-created the soup, but I liked it even better made at home. I was able to make it a little thicker. I made it about 5 times last winter and my 14-year old son loved it too. It's still warm here right now, but the weather is getting a little cooler, so maybe I can make this one again soon. 

When this is freshly made, it is thinner than shown in the photos. The photo is some of the soup that I had frozen, then warmed up. It thickens a lot in the fridge, and especially in the freezer. But I can report that it freezes really well!

Lebanese Lentil Soup

adapted from Plant Based Folk

1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 large Brown onion diced
2 medium Carrots diced
2 small Celery stalks diced
2 cloves Garlic crushed
1½ cups dry red lentils 

¼-½ cup Short grain white rice or medium grain
8 Cups Vegetable stock or 10 cups (you can adjust the thickness of this lentil soup)
1 medium Fresh lemon juiced
1 teaspoon Ground turmeric
1 ½ teaspoon Ground cumin
1 handful Fresh parsley chopped, divided into two portions (use 2 TBS dry if you don't have fresh)
1 pinch Salt or to taste
½ teaspoon Cracked black pepper or to taste
 Lemon wedges, for serving

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, crushed cloves of garlic, and spices. Cook until the onions have softened. Add the red lentils and stir until they are coated in the olive oil. Pour in the vegetable stock and add the rice. Cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.
Add the diced celery and carrot. Simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid on. Turn off the heat and stir in half of the chopped fresh parsley and the lemon juice.

2. Blend the soup with an immersion blender until the soup is partially smooth but still has some chunky bits. Do a taste test and adjust with salt if needed. Garnish with additional parsley and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze into the soup to your liking.

-Leftovers are great in the fridge! Also, this soup freezes well. I thawed overnight in the fridge and then warmed it up gently on the stove.-

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