Tuesday 8 May 2012

Puy Lentil Soup with Parmesan Toasts


From Sydney Food, Bill Granger, Murdoch Books, 2000.

Recently discovered a small vegan cafe, Naked Espresso, in the back of Berkelouw Books in Newtown. It is only open on Saturdays and Sundays but worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood on the weekend.

We tried a lentil vegetable soup that was just right on a cold Saturday. I enjoyed it thoroughly though for my palate the herbs were a touch too strong. It tempted me to try a lentil soup for myself.

The one I chose to make was with puy lentils that hold together much more than the regular lentils. The soup was a breeze to make. Carrots, onion and leek were sautéed in butter and olive oil for about 10 minutes. Then came garlic, celery and chilli to cook for a little longer. Next a can of chopped tomatoes was added with stock, bay leaves, chopped oregano and the puy lentils. This was brought to the boil and simmered for about half an hour when it was seasoned to taste.


While the soup was cooking the Parmesan toasts were made. Garlic and olive oil were whipped together and then brushed on slices of focaccia. They were sprinkled with salt and grated Parmesan cheese. It was then only a matter of baking them in the oven until crisp.


The soup was rich with vegetables and the bread especially good to crunch along with it. I don’t think it came up to the one from Naked Espresso but it was close.










Taste: ✔✔✔
Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

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