Sonyas French Lentil Soup
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 cup red wine
16 oz. dried lentils, sorted and rinsed
6 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoon dried thyme or oregano
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
pepper to taste
optional: chopped spinach (frozen or fresh)
This makes a LOT of soup, but you will love it so much on these cold winter days that it won't last but a few days. I also find that it freezes pretty well.
Also, if you like carrots, you can substitute one stalk of celery for one carrot. I'm allergic to carrots, so I've never tried it, but I imagine it would be fine. Just make sure they are finely chopped.
1.) Heat a large soup pan over high heat. Add your oil and onions and celery. Saute until they start to take on color. Add bay leaves and garlic. After two minutes (or if the garlic starts to burn) work in the tomato paste and add the vegan wine. Reduce by three-quarters.
2.) Add the lentils and enough broth to cover with a couple inches of liquid. Simmer uncovered, periodically stirring and adding enough broth (or water, if you run out of broth) to cover.
3.) The soup should cook for about 40 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Add enough water for your desired consistency. Add a couple tablespoons of crushed thyme or oregano, and season to taste with pepper. If your broth is sodium-free you can add salt, but be careful- a lot of vegetable broth contain a lot of salt! Stir in a heaping spoonful of Dijon mustard and serve immediately.
Hope you enjoy! Pair it with some barley or rice for complete protein, or maybe just a big hunk of country bread. Even if you're not a huge mustard fan, please try the Dijon; my boyfriend hates mustard but he loves the perfume it gives this soup. The mustard, the vegan red wine, and the thyme really give it a French-y taste. Bon appetit!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
We followed the recipe exactly and it was absolutely amazing! Very unique taste. Only thing is our lentils took quite a bit longer - maybe 20 minutes - to cook. Might used tinned next time or precook them.
Yum! I definitely recommend not skimping on the dijon mustard- it goes very well with the flavors of the soup!
I used french green lentils which was nice because they retained their shape. I also added the suggested carrot and spinach and used both thyme AND oregano, which turned out fine. I just used more oregano than thyme since there were a few previous comments on how it was too strong for them.
I paired the soup with a sourdough crusty bread and a garden salad (plus the leftover wine from the recipe of course!) Me and my omni date I was cooking for (as well as one of his hungry roomies) all give the recipe a thumbs up :ok!:
This soup is incredible! I had never cooked with wine until I came across this recipe and decided to give it a try. I had half a bottle of Shiraz and half a bottle of Cabernet, so I mixed them and it turned out fantastic. The mustard is definitely the defining touch.
I make this recipe all the time and it is consistently fantastic. So much more complexity than most lentil soups, and nearly impossible to screw up. I find it takes longer to cook than the recipe says, but that's the only difference.
I've made this for a couple of friends and every single one of them has requested the recipe.
I liked this recipe quite a bit but it tasted better before I added the thyme so, next time I will leave that out. I also made half a batch since the recipe indicated that it made a ton but, my husband and I had minimal leftovers since it was so tasty (or maybe we're just pigs) .
Wow. What a great lentil soup. This is going to be my new standard lentil soup. I added 2 carrots finely chopped and some green beans chopped just to get some more veggies in there. I loved the crushed garlic, there were big chunks of stewed garlic goodness. And the wine made it really lovely and rich and the dijon was the perfect finale. Also, I didn't have tomato paste on hand so I used a couple tablespoons of tomato sauce, and I added a lot more water in the end to make it a little more brothy. So DELICIOUS!
Very tasty...yum!
I am allergic to wine so instead of the red wine, I used vegan "beef" stock with a splash each of white tequila, apple juice, and lemon juice. (Allergic to vodka too, or I would have used a good pure-tasting one there.) Massel brand stock cubes or liquid is the best one I've found, they also do animal-free "chicken" stock and vege stock.
Good stuff!! What can I say... I made it like it said (except I put the mustard in before the 40 minutes). Thanks for the recipe, it was a good use of lentils!
I made this the other day and it is EXCELLENT! I made it using both oregano and thyme. The mustard seemed a little strong at first but the soup was perfect the next day. ;D Thanks for sharing this recipe! :D
I have made this soup twice and I am working on cooking my third right now. It always comes out amazing.
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