Ingredients
Lentil soup
Method
- Finely slice the carrots, onions and bacon and brown them in the butter.
- Put the lentils in a large volume of cold water with the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, add the browned vegetable and bacon mixture and cook 40 minutes.
- Pass through a food mill, stir in the cream and adjust the seasoning.
Equipment
Saucepan; Food mill
Notes
- Variety: the original ingredient list says lentils. It does not require Puy green lentils, despite the collection title.
- Cold-water start: put the lentils and bouquet garni into a large volume of cold water. Bring to the boil before adding the browned carrot, onion and bacon mixture.
- Liquid quantity: the water volume is not measured in the recipe. It gives no stock quantity or stock-based alternative.
- Texture and finish: pass the cooked soup through a food mill, then stir in the cream and check the seasoning.
Photos
1 photo
About this dish
The Velay around Le Puy has a long association with lentils. A vessel containing them was found at the Gallo-Roman site of Saint-Paulien, and trade in lentils at Le Puy is recorded in the seventeenth century. The green lentil grown on these Haute-Loire plateaux is known for its fine skin and a centre that is less floury than other lentils. Cold springs and dry, sunny summers shape those qualities.
Recettes et Terroirs places Pierre Marchesseau’s lentil-and-bacon soup in Auvergne and Haute-Loire. It is a smooth potage: the lentils cook with herbs, then pass through a food mill with their browned vegetables and bacon. That first browning adds flavour before the long simmer, while milling brings the ingredients into a single texture. The final addition of cream rounds the soup without losing the lentils’ earthy character.
Recipe and cooking notes adapted from Recettes et Terroirs.