With all of the business surrounding a house move, it’s easy to forget to eat, let alone cook. If there’s any cooking it involves using up items stored in the pantry or defrosted from the freezer, simply so they won’t be packed. The first time around it’s kind of fun – almost like a pantry food show: Here’s what you have, show us what you’ve got. I made this lentil soup for dinner one night before our move and deliberately froze extras for another meal once we settled in. It’s an extremely simple soup to make with minimal ingredients, yet consistently rewarding in comfort, flavor and heartiness – just the thing to fill up on before unpacking a mountain of moving boxes.
Lentil Soup
The brown sugar and Madeira add extra richness and depth to the soup. Serve with baguette slices and any cheese you may need to empty from the refrigerator. Serves 4.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped, about 1 cup
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large carrots, cut in 1/4-inch dice
1 1/2 cups brown lentils, rinsed and sorted through
6 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Madeira or Port wine
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and carrots; sauté 2 minutes. Add stock, lentils, bay leaf, salt, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Add sugar and port wine. Simmer another 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Ladle into bowls and serve hot.
Hoping you are settling in to your new home. Lentil soup is a favorite at ours.
What a beautiful soup!
How exciting a move can be.. I often forget to eat as well, I’m so happy to be setting up:) This is the perfect heart-warming soup for such a task!
A perfect soup to warm the soul and sustain the body during a time of great change. Using up bits and pieces from the pantry is always rewarding, especially with such a tasty soup!
I love the wine added in, the spoons, the picture and of course the soup.
It’s hard to over estimate the joy of having a great soup in the freezer!
I love the picrures in this post the colors make it seem so retro style!!! That soup looks really good!
A wonderful soup! Lentils are a perfect addition.
Cheers,
Rosa
Even as the weather warms, there’s still ample opportunity for cozy comfort foods like this! Looks delicious, Lynda.
What wonderful planning! I hope your move went very smoothly for you and your family, and hope you are all settling into your new home. Knowing you, you’ll be completely unpacked and organized by Monday :-). Oh wait. I just saw that this post is from 3 days ago. Scratch that – I’ll bet you’re already unpacked, and cooking up your next wonderful meal for all of us.
This looks wonderful! I too love the satisfaction of knowing there is homemade soup in the freezer. That’s the best insurance policy there is. Hope your move went well. Still in the Bay Area? I had hoped we would meet again!
Just a local move – looking forward to meeting you again!
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I love the idea of add Madeira. This looks fantastic.
What a wonderful soup, love the addition on madeira. And those spoons are beautiful!