Italian Lentil Soup (with parsnips and carrots...)

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I found this soup at the great blog Anne's Food. I have to say I agree with Anne though, I'm not quite sure what makes it Italian... In fact I would like to go even further and say I don't think the Lentil part is a good name either. Sure there's lentils in it but they are no way the main feature or main flavour. If being in the soup is enough to give it the name it might as well be called parsnip soup or carrot soup or potato soup. I guess if I got to name it I would have rather named it Carrot parsnip lentil soup.

Any way. The name doesn't really matter does it. What matter is that this soup was delicious and filling. Yet another soup that has been a regular on our menu this winter.

Ingredients:
1 onion
1 garlic clove
2-3 carrots
2 parsnips
3 potatoes
½ cup (100 ml) red lentils
2.5 oz. (70 g) bacon (I doubled this, what can I say we like bacon...)
3.5 cups (800 ml) vegetable stock
3/4 cup (200 ml) milk
cup (100 ml) cream
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper
butter

Chop onion and garlic. Peel the carrots, parsnips and potatoes, and cut into coins and dice, respectively. Cut the bacon into strips.

Fry the bacon in a dry frying pan until it's lightly browned. Add some butter and the onions, garlic, carrots and parsnips. Fry for five minutes, then add lentils and potatoes. Fry for a few more minutes, then add water, stock, thyme and bay leaves.

Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft. Add milk and cream, and season with salt and pepper.

Potato soup

. Sorry for the picture, soup just doesn't photograph well.

We love this soup, quick and easy for a weekday yet so yummy. Serve it with some nice bread and a whipped butter and you have yourself a bit of a gourmet dinner on a rainy Tuesday.

The original recipe calls for heavy cream but I usually make it with crème fraîche or sour cream. Most times I only add lime juice but last time I made it I had some white wine left from making risotto so I added that at the same time as the stock.

Ingredients:
2 lbs (900g) potatoes
1 leek
6 ½ cup (1.5 L) stock (chicken or vegetable)
3/4 - 1 cup crème fraîche (or sour cream or cream)
2 Tbsp lime juice
(1/4 cup (50 ml) white wine)
1 pkg bacon
pepper

Slice leek and fry in some oil. Peel and cut potatoes into smaller pieces and add to the leeks. Add the stock and boil for about 10 minutes or until soft. Cut the bacon in small pieces and fry in a pan. Remove the pot from the heat and mix with handmixer. Add limejuice and crème fraîche and bring to a quick boil again. Sprinkle bacon bits on top and serve.

Adapted from Buffé Feb 2009.

Beans & Bacon

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This is a favourite in our house, we probably eat it at least once every two weeks. It's very quick and easy and cheap. There really is no recipe, we just add whatever we have at home. Always beans, bacon, garlic, onion and sour cream but other than that it's pretty much never the same. Sometimes we add an apple, other times I've chopped up some mushrooms. My fiancé likes to add some soy sauce, I've tried it with mustard or a little bit of tomato paste.

Ingredients:
1-2 packs of bacon
2-3 cans of beans (black beans, black eyed beans, white beans, mung beans, borlotti beans or any other beans of your choice)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 apple
lime juice
soy sauce (optional)
1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
salt, pepper
chili powder, paprika, cumin
chives or herbs of your choice

Directions:
Cut the bacon in small pieces. Finely chop the onion. Mince the garlic. Fry bacon, garlic and onions. Add a finely chopped apple. Add lime juice (and soy sauce). Rinse the beans and add to the bacon. Stir in creme fraiche/sour cream. Season.
Serve with bread.