Soup for Supper – Red Wine Lentil Soup Recipe

Red Wine Lentil Soup

When cold, stormy, winter days hit (like this week here in the Northwest) my inner soup maker revs into high gear. Cold weather means soup, and since almost all packaged soups are full of salt, or over processed, or are based on meat broths, I make soup from scratch. Once you get the basics down it’s really pretty easy. The secret to a great tasting soup that sings with flavor? Herbs – and lots of them

Last summer we stopped producing our Wine Barrel Gourmet Red Wine soup mixes. Since then I have been fielding numerous calls and responding to emails and letters from disappointed customers. The The requests have been so prolific that I promised to post the recipes so everyone can re-create our soups at home. (Note – this isn’t the exact soup mix recipe, since the mixes used several dried ingredients that aren’t easily available to home cooks – but it’s close. If you are interested in purchasing Wine Barrel Gourmet’s intellectual property and starting your own soup mix business contact me here.)

Red Wine Lentil Soup – makes 6-8 servings

In a large pot saute the following in 2 Tbsp olive oil until soft but not browned:

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 large onion or shallot, minced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 large carrots, diced

Add:

• 6 cups water
• 1 cup rinsed green or brown lentils
• 1/3 cup rinsed red lentils
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp ajwain seed
• 2 tsp muscovado or brown sugar

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 – 40 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Stir in:

• 1/4 cup red wine

Heat for 5 more minutes before serving.

Check back next week (or subscribe to this blog) for another Red Wine Soup recipe!