| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 20 min |
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus 1 piece cheese rind (optional)
- 8 ounces orecchiette or other small pasta
- 2 14-ounce cans lentils (1 undrained; 1 drained and rinsed)
- 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
- Kosher salt
- Crusty bread, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is slightly soft, about 2 minutes. Remove 1 tablespoon of the flavored oil and set aside. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 more minutes. Add the chicken broth, 4 cups water and the cheese rind, if using. Bring to a boil, then add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add the lentils along with the liquid from one of the cans; reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the pasta is tender, 10 to 12 more minutes. Meanwhile, whisk 1 tablespoon parsley and 1 tablespoon water into the reserved flavored oil. Stir 1/4 cup parmesan and the remaining parsley into the soup; remove the cheese rind (if using) and add salt to taste. Ladle into bowls; drizzle with the flavored oil and top with the remaining 1/4 cup parmesan. Serve with bread, if desired.
Reviews
Definitely a winter comfort soup , the parmigiana on top makes the difference along with dried lentils.
loved it, I put cari powder too
Amazing. This is one of my favourite soups and my go to when I want something quick and filling. I’ve made it about 20 times since I first read the recipe in the Food Network magazine. I love it and I love adding my own little twists to it too 🙂
Really easy to make (was surprised when i finished so quickly and very tasty. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken. I used canned whole tomatoes since I was out of tomato paste. I added a little spinach for extra veges.
This is a great winter soup recipe. Very simple to make and hearty. My one change is that I use dried lentils and soak them myself rather than used canned. Canned lentils just don’t sound very good to me. The pasta and lentils really soak up the broth, so mine never turns out as brothy as the picture depicts (especially the leftovers, but still very good!
Excellent soup. I’m vegan, so subed a veggie chicken broth and vegan parmesan and it was fantastic!! Will definitely make this again.
I would make this again. The store I was at didn’t have canned lentils so I used a bag of dried lentils instead (I soaked them in hot water for about 15 minutes before starting the recipe. I used more chicken broth than water and I didn’t bother with the olive oil drizzle. It was pretty good.