Lentil Soup w/ Prosciutto

With the recent cold front, it brings the habits of winter out in all of us. Yesterday, while I was wrapping up a painting job and loading the truck, I smelled a faint aroma of a wood-burning fireplace. Okay, it's still September, we live in the south- the winter has not befallen us. I laughed at the zeal for the change of weather. I think all of us are feeling a bit nostalgic with our warm soups, fires in the fireplace, and quiet afternoons spent reading and drinking hot tea. I think all of Texas has gotten a bit romantic about the idea of fall arriving this week.

Rather than light up a fire, I indulged the inner longings for winter by creating a hearty winter soup. Browsing through my How to Cook Everything cookbook, I glanced at all the delicious soups. I noticed, amazingly, that I could possibly have the ingredients for about a half a dozen soups. Of course, soups were the staple when it came to surviving winter in centuries past. Preserved stocks, canned vegetables, dried beans, carrots and potatoes (which are winter crops here). A winter soup is very natural in the scope of what's available when cooking in season.

This recipe is actually a hybrid of split pea soup and lentil soup. It began with the diced prosciutto I had leftover from another meal last week. I really love split pea soup with ham, but the pantry contained no dried split peas, so the lentils took center stage.

Lentil Soup with Prosciutto

Cook Time: 1.5 hours

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup diced prosciutto

1 small onion, diced

2 cups dried lentils

1 carton organic vegetable broth

1 carton organic chicken broth

1 bay leaf

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

4 small carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 inch sections

In a large stock pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add prosciutto and saute until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add onions to the pan and saute until soft. Next, add lentils, stocks, carrot, bay leaf and thyme.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Continue to let it simmer on med-low for about an hour. You are looking for the consistency to thicken. After about 45 minutes, add in the prosciutto. When I did this, the water content decreased significantly after about 15 minutes. Lower the heat to low, and continue to simmer until the lentils and carrots are soft. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

If you'd like a smoother consistency, consider using and immersion blender or transferring about 3/4 of the soup into the blender in two small batches. (Noteworthy warnings: be careful with the hot soup, it will expand and likely blow out the top of your blender if you blend on high. Another thing: blending will cause this to look strangely similar to diarrhea- that's what happens on the color wheel when you mix orange and green!)