Skin ~ Look But Don't Touch
Evanescense ~ All That I'm Looking For
My Place ~ Nelly & Jaheim
Thunder ~ The Devil Made Me Do It
Martina McBride ~ Be That Way
This is a favourtie recipe of mine from one of my favourite cookbook authors; Linda Majzilk. Its from A Vegan Taste of Italy
and its a thoroughly used book. lol. You can buy it from Amazon.co.uk very easily. And I recommend you do! This soup is a hearty, comforting soup that I love to make during the winter months. I have been known to make it during the other seasons too! lol. Its packed with flavour from the veggies, beans, lentils and herbs. As with most soups, I make a double batch and freeze half. However it's not the most appealing visually but I tried my best to dress it up for the photo. lol.
Borlotti Bean and Lentil Soup Serves 4
(Recipe by Linda Majzilk from Vegan Taste of Italy)
8oz/225g cooked Borlotti Beans
6oz/175g leek, trimmed and sliced
6oz/175g carrot, peeled and chopped
4oz/100g brown lentils
4oz/100g tomato, peeled and chopped
2 garlic, crushed
26 fl oz/775ml veggie stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped (1 tsp dried)
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (1 tsp dried)
1 bay leaf
Black pepper
Soak the lentils overnight. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the leek and garlic until soft. Add the drained lentils and stir for one minute. Now add the stock, tomato, carrot, sage, oregano and bay leaf and season with black pepper. Stir well and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool slightly, then blend half of the soup. Stir into the rest of the soup in the pan, together with the borlotti beans. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
NB: I usually blend the entire soup instead of just half. Then add in the borlotti beans and reheat. As is the case for the soup in the photo.
If you experience problems with the lentils not cooking in the proposed time, like I have before, next time try the Quick Soaking method...place the lentils into a saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring the water to a boil, allow the lentils to boil for three full minutes and then turn off the heat. Cover tightly with a lid and leave to stand for one hour. Then continue with the recipe after draining the water off.
