Most people have a similar dietary pattern in their preference for first courses. Most often on our tables you can see borscht, cabbage soup, noodle soup, pickle, hodgepodge. Sometimes you want to diversify the family menu and try something new, especially for the national cuisines of different countries. Some recipes remain in our diet for a long time, some are not impressive and we forget about them, but we continue to choose, try, experiment, cook.
For a long time in the bookmarks I have languished recipe for Greek lentil soup. Today it's the turn to prepare a trial version. In such cases, I cook a small portion, as they say, at a time. If "Fakes" soup (its real name) is to your taste, then the family council will accept it on the menu;)
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Ingredients:
Chicken broth - 1 liter
Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
Lentils - 180 grams
Stalked celery - 2 stalks
Onions - 1 pc.
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.
Tomato paste - 1 tablespoon
Feta cheese - 25 grams
Garlic - 2 cloves
Spinach - a handful
Salt - 1 tsp
Ground pepper mixture - to taste
Course of action:
Prepare the above set of products. To prepare Greek lentil soup, you need to cook chicken broth in advance. The option of a dish based on vegetable broth or water is possible.
Cut the vegetables into cubes of approximately the same size.
First, remove the peel from the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them. When slicing tomato pulp, remove the liquid core with seeds.
Chop the garlic and spinach. Remove coarse fibers from celery stalks before cutting.
Spinach can be used either fresh or frozen.
Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Spread onions and celery stalks.
Transfer the chopped tomato pulp to the vegetables and simmer the mixture over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
In this case, I use greenhouse tomatoes, so I will add tomato paste for a more pronounced color and taste. Can be used canned tomatoes in their own juice.
Pour chicken broth into the soup base.
While stirring, bring to a boil.
You need to decide how thick the first course you want to cook. An incomplete glass of lentils (about 180 grams) produces a medium-thick soup.
You don't need to soak the lentils, just rinse them in cold water and add to the broth. Bring the legumes over low heat until cooked. Lentils are cooked quickly enough, about 10 minutes.
At the end, add chopped spinach and garlic. Salt the soup, add a mixture of ground peppers and, bringing to a boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then turn it off.
Before serving, let the soup brew a little under the lid.
Cut the feta cheese into small cubes and place in a plate with a hot dish just before serving.
Greek lentil soup "Fakes" turned out to be quite light, at the same time satisfying. Using conventional products does not make the taste special. But the addition, unusual for me, as feta cheese pleased me. It imparts a pleasant salinity and creaminess. Due to the short cooking time, the vegetables are perfectly cooked, they are not boiled, with a pleasant characteristic crunch.
If desired, you can punch such a soup with an immersion blender and end up with a good version of lentil puree soup.
Don't be afraid to experiment and try new dishes!
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