Lentil Soup is far and away our family’s favorite recipe from Home Cookin’ with Dave’s Mom. The recipe comes to us by way of David Letterman’s sister Jan, without any backstory. Like any good cold weather soup it’s warm and rich and sticks to your ribs, but what makes it special is a healthy dose of vinegar in the roux. The acid counterbalances the earthiness of the carrots and makes it feel fancy, even though you can churn out four hearty servings for eight or nine dollars. This recipe was a winter favorite back in our college days, and is one of the few “starving student” recipes that still finds its way onto our table twenty-odd years later.
As our family grew I learned that this recipe doesn’t double properly. For nearly every recipe in my repertoire doubling a batch simply means doubling the ingredients. The first time I decided that our family needed more than four adult servings I ended up a bland and watery soup. After some trial and error I came up with a proper procedure to make a double batch: I’ve included details in the recipe below. Other than that preparation is straightforward and difficult to screw up. You’ll need to know how to make a roux and crisp bacon properly, but there’s otherwise not any secret or special technique required. Vegetables are sauteed with bacon and mixed into cooked lentils. This mixture is stirred into a thick broth, not quite a gravy, and simmered to combine flavors. The only real active time is chopping and making the roux, meaning that the whole meal can be on the table in about an hour.
Jan’s original recipe is fantastic as is, but we’ve made a few adjustments over the years to adapt to our family’s tastes. It seems cliché, but more bacon makes for better soup, and caramelizing the vegetables in the bacon fat gives it a deeper flavor than just sweating them out. The original also calls for red wine vinegar, which varies in quality and acidity; I’ve found that malt vinegar produces a more consistent result. I use a heavy hand with the vinegar, especially when I’m making a double batch.
Pair it with crusty bread and butter or top it with croutons. Add a green salad and you’ve got a complete meal.
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Ingredients
For simmering the lentils
- 1 cup small, brown lentils
- 5 cups water
For the vegetable saute
- 4 slices thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon (or 8 slices thin-cut grocery store bacon, diced)
- 1/2 sweet onion (diced)
- 2 - 3 carrots (diced)
- 1 medium tomato (or two plum tomatoes, chopped)
For the roux
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup malt vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 2 cups beef broth (I prefer 2 tsp Better than Bouillon Beef + 2 cups water)
Instructions
- Bring lentils and water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
- While the lentils are cooking, fry bacon in a dutch oven or thick-bottomed stock pot until crisp. Add vegetables to the skillet and saute until onions start to caramelize and the bacon fat has been mostly absorbed by the vegetables, stirring frequently to scrape the delicious browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted add the flour and stir to form a roux. Brown the roux lightly and then drizzle in the vinegar, stirring constantly, until all of the liquid is incorporated. Do the same with the beef broth, stirring constantly. Stir until the mixture resembles a thick gravy.
- Add the lentils and cooking water to the vegetable saute and stir. Then add the "gravy" and stir several times until well mixed. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until lentils reach desired consistency.
Notes
Doubling the recipe isn’t as simple as doubling the ingredients – you’ll need to adjust the amount of liquid used to avoid a very watery soup. Instead of 10 cups of water use 8 cups for a double batch, and when making the “gravy” you’ll need to make two cups of double-strength beef broth – either 4 tsp of bouillon dissolved in 2 cups of water or 2 cups beef broth + 2 tsp bouillon.