Italian Tomato Lentil Soup
In this Italian Tomato Lentil Soup, lentils are cooked in a broth made with garlic, sage, and crushed tomatoes and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, and parsley.
Servings: 4
Calories: 240kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup green lentils
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups water
- 10 large sage leaves, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- parmesan cheese, freshly grated for serving
- ½ bunch parsley, chopped for serving, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Soak the lentils in water in a sieve while preparing the garlic, sage, parmesan, and parsley. Then rinse the lentils thoroughly.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven add two tablespoon of olive oil at medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Add the can of crushed tomatoes.
- Add 5 cups of water, green lentils, sage, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Simmer for 20-25 minutes and allow the flavors to meld together. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Serve warm with the parmesan cheese and parsley.
Notes
- Prep Tip: You can let the lentils soak while you start prepping the soup - mince the garlic, the sage, and the parsley and grate the parmesan cheese.
- Broth: For a thinner broth add 1 additional cup of water. For a thicker broth reduce the water added by ½ - 1 cup.
- Rinsing & Soaking the Lentils: This is an important step that should not be skipped. This cleans the lentils, removes excess starch, and helps with digestion.
- Cooking the Lentils: While the soup is simmering, the lentils are cooking. You can taste test before removing the soup from the heat to make sure that the lentils are cooked. The lentils should be firm, but easy to bite or chew. If you cook the soup too long the lentils will get overcooked. Look for a consistency that's similar to al dente pasta.
- Salt: If you don't know how much salt to add, add ¼ to ½ teaspoon to start, taste, and adjust from there. Everyone has different salt preferences often based on what you are used to - how much salt you typically add to your food or that you are consuming in prepared or packaged foods.
- Doubling the Recipe: This is a great recipe to double. For very little effort you can get a large batch of soup that you can freeze or have for multiple dinners and lunches. We routinely double this recipe and finish it within a week.
Nutrition
Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 28mg | Potassium: 517mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 658IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 4mg
