Crafting Soup: Part One
Lentil and Bacon soup: it all started on Christmas Eve
The Christmas Ham has been one of the centrepieces of my family’s Christmas tea for as long as I can remember. Mum would start trawling the supermarkets for the best bargain around this time of year and we’d have to sit there listening whilst she bemoaned the look of the ones in Tesco or the price of the ones in Sainsburys or wherever it was she was looking. And then suddenly a huge ham would appear in the fridge (the offers were obviously to her liking), ready to be cooked early on Christmas Eve.
When I moved away, there was always a phone conversation between Mum and myself (even if I was arriving later in the day) specifically to ascertain the status of the ham’s cooking. And in recent years where I wasn’t able to spend Christmas with my family and I cooked my own ham, these phone calls became a bit more competitive with a liberal sprinkling of “oooo get you!” as I’d tell Mum what aromatics I was using or what glaze I’d made. This will be the first year that I’ll not be able to have that conversation and yet the tradition of cooking the ham will continue.
But of course the problem with cooking a big bit of meat for any occasion is that after a few days you’re bored of it and the leftovers either end up on the freezer until next Christmas or you make something delicious and a bit different with them. And this is where the basis of my Lentil and Bacon soup recipe comes from.
It’s a wonderfully warming, earthy soup with a deliciously salty tang. You immediately feel like you’re eating something healthy, nourishing (lentils are full of goodness) and yet quite indulgent as you take your first steaming spoonful. And that cosy comfort makes this soup just perfect for curling up and enjoying a moment of peace and quiet. Or whilst you contemplate which knitting project you’re going to work on next!
Now you’re going to say, “but this is Lentil and Ham soup, not Lentil and Bacon,” and that’s true to a point. But you can’t get big hams all year round. You can, however, get bacon chops or cooking bacon (some butchers sell this as bacon ends) much more easily. And they are fab value! Just look for chunkier bits rather than bacon slices. I would also say that it is entirely up to you whether you use smoked or unsmoked ham or bacon. I prefer unsmoked, but use whichever you prefer. And if you don’t want to use ham or bacon, you can use chicken/smoked chicken, tofu or other vegan proteins.
And now for my standard disclaimer: I do believe that soup making is a bit of a craft rather than an exact science. The method, timings, ingredient amounts and seasonings are based on my experience so don’t be afraid to tinker! Recipes are just like knitting patterns after all!
Lentil and Bacon Soup
Serves 4 (or 2 depending on the size of your mug), but you can make a bigger batch if you wish.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Serving suggestion: Warm, buttered bread of your choice.
Ingredients:
200g red lentils (rinse in a sieve and check for any unwanted stones)
1 teaspoon of paprika (you can use smoked paprika if you wish)
500ml of water to cook the lentils
1 finely medium onion (yellow or brown would be my suggestion)
Olive oil (or whatever you have) for softening the onions and cooking the bacon (you can also use rendered bacon fat)
100g of leftover Christmas ham or bacon chops/cooking bacon/bacon scraps (either smoked or unsmoked or both if you want to be fancy!). Or, of course, you can use the same amount of chicken/smoked chicken (which is also very good) or tofu.
Thyme (4 or 5 sprigs or 1/2 teaspoon of dried)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
1.5ltrs of stock. If you have leftover ham stock from cooking the ham use that, but you can use chicken or vegetable stock.
Salt to taste at the end.
Method:
Finely chop the onion
Chop the ham/bacon (alternative into chunks). If you use bacon remove any fat. This can be rendered in the pan with a little oil before you soften the onion.
Add the washed lentils, paprika and water to a medium pan and bring to a fast boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until tender. Do not drain!
Meanwhile, and in a separate large pan, soften the onion and cook the bacon ensuring that you don’t get too much colour on them. If you are using leftover ham, other cooked meat or alternative, add at the next step.
Add the stock, herbs, other spices and cooked lentils (including liquid) to the onion and bacon. Bring to the boil and then cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring well occasionally to stop it from sticking before tasting for seasoning. You may need to add a bit more pepper or some more paprika at this stage. You may think you also need a bit more salt at this stage. But I do recommend waiting until the very end as the bacon/ham may release more salt. Obviously if you’re using an alternative protein, add salt as you feel is necessary.
Cook for another 10 minutes (again stirring well) or until the soup has thickened to your liking. Then check for seasoning again once the pan has been taken off the heat.
Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving in a big mug or bowl with warm bread of your choice and enjoy!
Leftovers:
If you do have any leftovers you can store this soup in the fridge for a couple of days, but it does freeze beautifully. It will thicken up though once cool so just add a splash of hot water and give it a good stir before reheating on the hob or in the microwave. Just make sure you don’t let it boil and stir well occasionally to make sure it doesn’t catch on the pan. And then once it’s piping hot, enjoy again!
I hope you’ll give this recipe a try and let me know what you added/took out to make this soup your own. And I hope you’ll join me in a couple of weeks for the next soup in this series which will be Roasted Butternut Squash, Red Pepper and Chorizo soup.
Until next time…
Love lentil and bacon soup. We had it a lot when I was small as it was cheap. Made with bacon bones, and a bag of soup veg from grocers plus extra carrots.