Use black beluga lentils for lentil soup instead of green. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with green lentil soup, but once you start using black beluga lentils, you’ll have a hard time going back. These beauties cook up melt-in-your-mouth tender but still retain their structural integrity, giving the soup a thick, satisfying body with a light, non-starchy mouthfeel.
Ingredients
- vegetable oil: 2 tsp
- ounces bacon: 4 piece (chopped)
- yellow onion: 1 cup (chopped)
- carrots: 1 cup (diced)
- celery: 1 cup (diced)
- salt and ground black pepper: (to taste)
- ground cumin: 0.5 tsp
- thyme: 0.25 tsp (dried)
- pinch cayenne pepper: 1 piece (to taste)
- ¼ cups black beluga lentils: 1 piece
- chicken broth: 5 cups (or as needed)
- bay leaf: 1 piece
- fresh flat-leaf parsley: 0.25 cup (divided, chopped)
- extra-virgin olive oil: 1 tsp (or as needed)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir bacon in hot oil until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion, carrots, celery, and salt; cook and stir until onion is softened and translucent, about 10 minutes. Season with black pepper, cumin, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
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Pour lentils into bacon mixture and stir until completely coated in rendered bacon fat. Add chicken broth and bay leaf; bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook, adding more chicken broth as needed, until lentils are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
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Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Stir in 3 tablespoons parsley.
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Ladle soup into bowls, sprinkle remaining parsley over top, and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.
