I loooove lentil soup, especially on chilly days. We usually only have it once a year, superstitiously (I use that term loosely) on New Year's Eve. Apparently it's an old Italian myth that eating lentil soup just before the new year will bring happiness and prosperity. Either way, I love the stuff, so I welcome it every year. Even though it's not exactly New Years Eve now, I just couldn't restrain my craving! I definitely wanted to make some sort of lentil soup, but also a soup with a bit more texture and color. So, I decided to put a twist on the traditional Italian lentil soup.
Pressure Cooker Italian Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 C)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t olive oil
2 C brown lentils
6 C water
2 large carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 t thyme
1 t oregano
3 T tomato paste (1/2 6 oz can)
1 T balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper
minced fresh italian parsley (optional)
Preparation
- In pressure cooker saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
- When fragrant and translucent, and remaining ingredients except tomato paste, balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice), salt and pepper.
- Cover and seal pressure cooker.
- Bring to high pressure and cook for 8 minutes.
- Bring pressure down using your cooker's rapid release method.
- Stir in tomato paste, vinegar and salt and pepper.
- Adjust spices to taste (you may need more thyme and oregano - pressure cooking seems to minimize their flavor) and simmer a couple minutes more.
- Remove bay leaves and serve, sprinkled with fresh parsley if desired.
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