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1
Identify a miserable rainy day (often a Monday), decide to make soup and then leave office at 5pm if at all humanly possible.
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2
Go to the store and buy the stuff unless you are so incredible that you shopped in advance for this meal.
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3
Upon arriving home, go straight to kitchen and begin preparations.
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4
Do not change, check the news, read mail, empty dishwasher, etc.
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5
This soup needs to get on the stove pronto so it has time to stew and simmer.
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6
You can do all those other things later during the simmer stage (see step 11).
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7
If your man/dinner guest(s) arrive late, even more time for the soup to absorb all the yummy flavors.
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8
Hopefully you have a mini-food chopper/processor as this will help tremendously (save slow chopping for the weekend).
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9
If not, you should really invest in one!
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10
Cheap and very useful.
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11
Anyhow, chop the onion into large chunks and then process it so that the pieces are pretty small.
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12
Throw this into a large sauce/soup pot with a chunk of butter (real or fake) and let it sautee for 5 minutes.
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13
Meanwhile, put the lentils into a smaller pot and cover with cold water.
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14
Heat it on the stove on high and let it boil for 10 minutes.
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15
Drain and put aside.
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16
While lentils are cooking, add 2 cloves of pressed garlic (or chopped if you lack a press) to the onions so that they have a minute to cook.
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17
Start your chopping: carrots, mushrooms, and celery.
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18
Carrots especially need to be chopped very small so that theyll cook faster.
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19
Turn the heat off of the onions if they finish before your chopping is done.
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20
When lentils are done, use the same pot and cook the baby pasta, if using, and put aside.
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21
Once chopping is done, throw those veggies in with the onions.
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22
Also, add tomato paste, vegetable stock, lentils, and sausage, if using.
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23
Cover the soup and let it simmer for about an hour.
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24
Check it periodically to see that the vegetables become tender and that it doesnt overboil.
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25
Add salt and pepper as you like it.
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26
Now you can change clothes, open mail, light candles, etc.
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27
When its close to serving time you can add the vinegar/wine.
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28
Do this slowly and taste to see how much you like.
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29
Gives it a nice kick.
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30
When the soup is ready or your dining guest(s) cannot wait anymore, serve it into bowls, mixing in a tiny bit of baby pasta and topping with chopped basil and grated parmesan.
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31
You can leave the parmesan at the table if one of your diners is a cheese addict.
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32
NOTE: The pasta is always added into the serving bowls, not the soup itself because I find it otherwise soaks up too much of the broth.
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33
Its best served with a hot bread of your choice.
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34
A salad is probably not necessary since this heavy soup is very filling.
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35
Bask in the praise of your culinary skills.
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36
NOTE: If refrigerating leftover soup, keep the cooked pasta separate or it will soak up all the broth.
