Believe it or not out of all the soups I’ve made, I’ve never made a lentil soup until now. There’s this beef and lentil soup recipe in one of my old Giada cookbooks that I’ve skimmed over many times, but have never made it because it has beef, beef broth, rosemary, etc., and I love plain ole vegetarian lentil soup. Well finally the light bulb came on and was like why not take this recipe and make it vegetarian? And so I did.

The soup is full of chunky carrots, celery, and tomatoes to give this soup plenty of body to make it a complete meal. All you need is some crusty bread to make this a great rainy day soup.

These are the same bag of lentils that my husband brought back from Italy which have been used in previous lentil recipe posts. These lentils took about 1 hour to become tender. Cooking times will vary depending on what kind of lentils you use.

Soups and one pot meals are the best. Put everything in a pot. Cover. Let it do its thing.

Check on your lentils from time to time to test for doneness. Some types cook faster than others.

Looks like there will be plenty of leftover soup for the week. Not that I’m complaining.

Lentil Vegetable Soup
adapted from Giada’s Family Dinners

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups vegetable broth
1 (14-ounce) canned diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup lentils, rinsed (see note below)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions
In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Saute for about 8 minutes until the onions are softened, stirring occasionally. Add the broth and tomatoes with their juice. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the lentils. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the lentils are tender. Stir in the parsley. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Note: Cooking times may vary depending on type of lentils used.