Quick Ham & Lentil Soup

Lentil soup

loved by us Scots

This recipe uses an abundance of veggies and Red Lentils.
Yes, Red lentils. Loved by Brits and Indians alike

Here in Texas they are hard to get, only the brown ones are around, I found these beauts in the International Indian foods section of my local supermarket

Many a recipe is around for lentil soup, using a variety of different veggies, and different Ham sources

For this recipe I used bacon and stock instead of a ham hock

It's a quick recipe where you can cut down on cooking time by soaking the lentils in warm water before transferring them to the large pot

Makes one gigantic pot of soup

You will need

300g Lentils
3 small potatoes
3 carrots
1 turnip
2 onions
1 garlic clove (crushed)
8 Bacon slices or a Ham Hock
2 pints of Stock (and maybe a bit water for thinning later)
salt and oodles of fresh ground pepper
a little oil for softening veggies

• Using a sieve, rinse the lentils under water

• transfer them to a bowl and cover with warm water, leave to sit for 30 minutes

• peel and chop the potatoes, turnip, carrots and onions

• Cut the bacon into bite sized pieces

• in a large pot, add the oil and fry the bacon

• add the chopped veg and garlic and fry for about 5 minutes until slightly softened

• drain the lentils, add then to the veg pot, Mix well (if using a ham hock add here)

• Add 2 pints of stock of choice (you can use water here instead if you wish)

• Bring to boil then simmer for around 40 minutes, until lentils swell and the veg really softens (take ham hock out and cut up meat from bone and add meat back in if using a ham hock)

• once ready, mash a little with a potato masher to break up the bigger pieces, or you can liquidize if you prefer no lumps

• serve and enjoy