Lentil Soup

I grew up with this soup as a staple in my house and my grandmother's.  My mom likes to add rice but I think that makes it too heavy.  I use turkey bacon to flavor the soup as well as chicken stock, but you can omit the bacon and use veg stock instead for a met-free variation.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried lentils (For this recipe I like green lentils, but you can use any kind)
• Olive oil
• 1 medium white cooking onion, minced
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes (optional)
• 2 cups fresh spinach or 10 ounces frozen, chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock or you can use water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 slice turkey bacon (optional)
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Rinse the lentils in a colander and set aside. In a large soup pot, saute the onions, carrots and celery in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper and stir and cook for one more minute. Add the tomato paste and stir around, coating the veggies and toasting the paste for a minute.  Add the tomatoes, spinach, stock and turkey bacon, if using.  Add the thyme and a couple of pinches of salt and black pepper.  Stir and cover.  Let simmer for 45 minutes or until lentils are soft. If the soup is getting too thick, add more stock or water to thin it out to a soup consistency. When ready, taste again and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve with grated Pecorino Romano cheese.