Meatless Meals :: Turkish Spinach and Lentil Soup

Last month I was blessed with being the very thankful recipient of a whole bunch of dinners made by a local Little Flower Girl's Club as a service project!    One of the dinners was this lentil soup, which was very delicious.  I was able to get the recipe from my friend Kathleen so I could make it again, and then share the recipe here at Catholic Cuisine.  Enjoy!

Turkish Spinach and Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup dried lentils
5 cups vegetable stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup raw bulghur
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
pinch of dried rosemary (or to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups stemmed, cleaned, and coarsely chopped fresh spinach
chopped fresh parsley


Directions:

Rinse the lentils. Bring them to a boil in the salted stock. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a heavy soup pot. Saute the onions until translucent. Add the garlic, cayenne , bay leaves, and raw bulghur. Stir the mixture on medium heat until the onions and bulghur are lightly browned.

Mix in the parsley and tomatoes. When the tomatoes begin to give up their juice, gently stir in the tomato paste.

Pour the lentils and their liquid into the soup pot with the onions and bulghur. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Add the rosemary, salt, and pepper to taste. If the lentils and bulghur have absorbed too much liquid, add more stock, water, or tomato juice. Remove the bay leaves.

Just before serving, stir in the fresh spinach and let it wilt in the hot soup. Garnish with more fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread.