French-Style Lentil Soup with Goat Cheese

At first glance, this seems like an easy soup, and it is, but once you serve it up with a nice dollop of rich goat cheese, the experience is stepped up a few notches. The cheese fills out the lentils and basic seasonings and adds a delightful velvety texture and earthiness to the bowl. This is one soup that I won't soon forget. When I just want a fairly straightforward dinner, lentils often appear. It's an ideal mid-week meal with much flair despite the somewhat humble base.

French-Style Lentil Soup with Goat Cheese

Recipe by Lisa Turner Published on March 24, 2014 Simple and delightful French lentil and tomato soup seasoned with herbs and topped with soft tangy goat cheese Print this recipe Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large shallot, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed 2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped 1 medium tomato, finely chopped 1 cup French (Puy) lentils, rinsed 3 1/2 to 4 cups water 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 bay leaf Parmesan rind (optional) 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste fresh ground black pepper 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 2 oz (50 g) soft goat cheese, cut into small rounds or crumbled Instructions: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the shallot and stir and fry for a few minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeños and cook for another minute or so. Add the tomato to the pot and cook, stirring often, until the tomato is softened, roughly 5 to 7 minutes. Add the lentils and water to the pot, and add the dried herbs, bay leaf and Parmesan rind if using. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add the salt and pepper to the pot, cover again, and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the lentils are tender. Remove the bay leaf and Parmesan rind and partly purée the soup using a hand blender. Adjust the seasonings and stir in the parsley. Serve hot with goat cheese on top. Makes 4 servings

This is my contribution to My Legume Love Affair this month, a popular event celebrating all things legumes started by lovely Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook, now administered by me and kindly hosted this month by Cinzia.

Other lentil soups you many enjoy from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Lentil Soup with Prunes and Apricots
Madras-Style Red Lentil Soup
Mushroom Lentil and Barley Soup
Turkish-Style Lentil Soup

On the top of the reading stack: Rawsome Vegan Baking: An Un-cookbook for Raw, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Beautiful and Sinfully Sweet Cookies, Cakes, Bars & Cupcakes

Audio Accompaniment: Pete Namlook & Tetsu Inoue - 62 Eulengasse