This delicious soup is just celery, onions and lentils – but boy is it good! I like to “un-peasant” it by adding a couple grilled lamb chops. If it’s too sweet for your taste, add a squeeze of lemon juice.
6 large onions (about 3 pounds)
4 T olive oil
1 whole bunch celery, including the leaves
1/2 c chopped parsley, leaves & small stems
1 lb lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 t cinnamon
2 – 3 t sea salt
fresh ground pepper, to taste
lemon wedges
2 lamb blade chops, optional
Slice the onions (not particularly thin) and saute them in 2 skillets, each with 2 T of the olive oil. Start on medium-high heat and stir frequently. As the onions start to brown and then caramelize, progressively reduce the heat. Altogether it should take 30 – 40 minutes to cook the onions.
In between stirring the onions, prepare the rest of the soup: put 8 cups of cold water in a stockpot. Add the celery, lentils and parsley.
When the onions are done, add them to the stockpot, then use a cup of water to de-glaze each pan, scraping every bit of onion-y yumminess out of them, and add the deglazing fluid to the stockpot.
Partially cover and simmer for at least 2 hours. Stir in the cinnamon, salt and pepper and simmer another 10 minutes. While the soup is finishing, grill the lamb chops and cut them off the bones into small pieces, and stir into the soup at the last minute.