Bacon Lentil Soup

[leslie]

Description: A tasty winter soup. Bacon says it all really!

Serving Size: A lot, I usually freeze half. I'd say about 15 servings

Time: about 1 1/2 hours

Preparation: Use a large stockpot from start to finish.
Cut the bacon into 1/2" strips.
Slice the garlic
Slice the carrots
Chop the onion
Rinse lentils

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of bacon, sliced in 1/2" sections
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 2 handfuls of baby carrots, sliced
• 8 cups of chicken broth/stock
• 1 bag of lentils
• Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

• Fry bacon until very crispy, but not burnt.
• Remove the bacon and drain all the grease but about 2 tbsp (you could substitute olive oil here if you used turkey bacon or if you are generally grossed out by eating bacon grease).
• Saute the garlic, onion, and carrots
• Dump veggies into a food processor and puree, or use an immersion blender if you have one
• Bring rinsed lentils, chicken broth, pureed veggies and bacon to a boil, then cover and cook until lentils are soft.
• For a thicker soup, puree some of the finished soup and put back into the pot.
• To cut the time down, you could cook lentils in a separate pot in some of the chicken broth while you are frying and sauteing.