Recipe Fakes – Lentil Soup – Greek Style – Bonus Recipe Quick Garlic Bread
“Fakes” Greek lentil soup and garlic bread”
I love lentils, though I never used to, well, that’s not really true, I don’t know whether I did or I didn’t!
Silly isn’t it?
But, I decided without even trying them, that this was not a dish for me.
My children do the self-same thing, it drives me crazy, but now we know where they get it from!
Anyway, I wouldn’t eat lentils; my children wouldn’t eat lentils, poor MGG (My Greek God) could only dream about lentils, unless he ate them elsewhere, they weren’t on the menu!
My children grew up, left home and MGG brought up the lentil subject; again!
To please him, I made them, “Never mind” I thought, “I can have a sandwich”
Where to find the recipe? Best to ask my mother-in-law, after all, it’s her lentil soup MGG’s familiar with.
Keeping in mind her strict instructions, I bought brown lentils, not green, not red, nor orange.
Lentils for every occasion
“No carrots or celery, and definitely no sausage or pork, and use fresh tomatoes, not juice or puree”, she told me, “Never mind what others tell you, listen to me, do it my way”
So, what could I do? I did it her way.
Everything went smoothly, it looked like it should, and, didn’t smell too bad at all, in fact, it smelled delicious.
So, when MGG, with his mouth watering, sat down to sample my efforts, and give his verdict, I thought “why not? I’ll try them
What a revelation, what had I been missing all these years, they were delectable!
French Puy lentils, the best!
Difficult to find in Greece.
Now, apart from the hot summer months, we eat “Fakes”, Greek lentil soup, at least once a week.
Garlic bread is the perfect partner for lentil soup.
The days we have lentils, MGG will bring home, two or three fresh, crusty baguettes from out local bakers, which I fill with garlic butter and pop into the oven, ten minutes or so, before we sit down to eat.
Ingredients for lentil soup
(This recipe makes enough for six people)
Ingredients for “Fakes” Greek lentil soup.
500 gr brown lentils
2 ripe tomatoes
2 large onions (Chopped)
2 garlic cloves (Chopped)
2 tbs vinegar
1 bay leaf
150 ml Olive oil
Aprox 2 litres water
Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
Method
Put lentils into a large saucepan, add water, bring to the boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally, and grate, using the largest holes of grater, discard skins.
Add the tomatoes, along with the chopped onion and garlic, salt, pepper, vinegar and bay leaf.
Grated fresh tomatoes
Bring to the boil again, add olive oil, turn down heat to a simmer, and cook for about 1 to 1 ½ hours, until lentils are soft, stirring occasionally, take care towards the end, as the soup thickens, it is more likely to burn.
Garlic bread
Garlic bread
3-4 fresh baguettes
200 gr salted butter, softened
4 garlic cloves
Method
Mince garlic, add to butter, and mix well.
Diagonally slice baguettes, don’t slice right through.
Spread garlic butter, liberally, between the cuts you have made in the baguettes.
Wrap in foil, separately, and place in oven, 200 degrees C for about 15 minutes
Remove from foil and enjoy!
By the way, my children still turn up their noses at “Fakes”
If only they knew!
