Lentil Soup With Burgundy Wine

While delicious immediately, this soup tastes even better if it’s prepared a day ahead. Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients, most of them are pantry items — most of the work is in preparing the vegetables and that goes pretty quickly. Start testing the doneness of the lentils after it simmers for 45 minutes — you want the lentils to have a slight bite left in them — mushy lentils just don’t cut it! © The Working Lunch Project

CourseLunch, Soup
CuisineFrench

Servings	Prep Time
8servings	20minutes

Cook Time

45-60minutes

Servings	Prep Time
8servings	20minutes

Cook Time

45-60minutes

Ingredients

3 (4 if bacon is thin)slices of bacon
2cups shredded green cabbage
1large white onionpeeled and chopped
2stalks of celery with leaveswashed and tough strings removed with a vegetable peeler
4large cloves of garlicpeeled and chopped
1cup brown lentilspicked through for any pebbles and rinsed
4large (or, 6 medium) carrotspeeled and sliced on a diagonal, 1/4 inch thick
5cups beef broth
2cups Burgundy wine (or other, full-bodied red wine)
2cups water
1tablespoon beef base concentratefor testing purposes, I used Better Than Bouillon brand
1tablespoon double-strength tomato pastefor testing purposes, I used Mutti Double Concentrated Tomato Paste
2tabllespoons sodium-free seasoningfor testing purposes, I used Spike (the sodium-free version)
2teaspoons sodium-free beef broth powderfor testing purposes, I used 2 envelopes Herb Ox Beef Flavor Bouillon – Sodium Free
2teaspoons salt free Italian seasoningfor testing purposes, I used The Spice Hunter’s salt free Italian Seasoning
1teaspoon onion powder
1teaspoon garlic powder
1/2teaspoon seasoned saltfor testing purposes, I used VegeSal
1/4teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3medium (or, 2 large) dried bay leaves
1/2teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 to 1/2teaspoon garlic saltto be added at the end of cooking the soup, if needed

Instructions

In a large pot over medium high heat, cook the bacon strips until browned and remove to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the bacon fat in the pan, and leaving the heat on.
To the hot bacon fat add the cabbage, onion, and celery, cooking until vegetables are wilted. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.
Crumble into the pot the reserved, cooked bacon and add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the red wine vinegar and garlic salt.
Bring the soup to a boil, cover partially, and simmer on medium low 45 minutes to 1 hour. Be sure to start tasting the lentils after 45 minutes to test for a firm, but not crunchy, doneness.
When the lentils are cooked, add the red wine vinegar. Taste the soup to see if more salt is needed, and if so, add the garlic salt to taste.

Recipe Notes

Nutritional facts per serving:

282 calories

4g fat

1,059mg sodium

27g carbs

7g fiber

9g protein