Italian Style Vegetarian Lentils
by Laurie Shipley
Ingredients:
- 1 bag lentils
- 1 pound fresh spinach
- 1 pound fresh escarole
- 1 large onion
- carrots
- celery
- mushrooms
- fresh garlic
Directions:
- Soak the lentils overnight and rinse.
- Put lentils in large pot with 6 cups water and begin to simmer. Season to your own taste, I use salt, pepper, oregano and basil.
- Coat a large frying pan with olive oil and a drop more.
- Finely dice at least 3 full heads of fresh garlic (I use 4) (the garlic melts down as it cooks)
- Chop celery, onion and mushrooms and throw all into frying pan and brown it all up, add all to the simmering pot of lentils.
- Add your spinach, escarole and carrots. Cover and simmer for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Cooking longer is fine, when the lentils are soft you are good to go.
To make this more of a hearty stew instead of soup, about 30 minutes before you are done, add in package of orzo noodles.
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Doesn’t this sound like a good dish for a rainy day? I’m allergic to mushrooms so I’d have to leave those out but Laurie says this is a very adaptable recipe. I think zucchini would be a good substitute for the mushrooms. And if you’re preparing this for non-vegetarians who just have to have a little meat, some sliced smoked sausage or diced ham would be good. Thank you, Laurie, for sharing!
Laurie and her husband, “Captain Hagar” are part of our New Orleans pirate krewe. They live in snowy New York where Laurie is currently counting down the days until Spring and planning her garden. She is also working on a new business venture – homemade soaps made with lavender and other herbs she grows herself. She gifted me with a few samples recently and they are lovely.
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