bread | Jenna's Everything Blog

This lentil soup is pure comfort food. Simple but hearty flavors, our dear Barefoot Contessa has hit the nail on the head again. She’s one of those cookbook writers I can count on to deliver with each recipe–I’ve made dozens of her dishes, with only one flop that I can recall (the weeknight bolognese, for those curious).

From her cookbook Barefoot in Paris, this soup has lots of fresh veggies–onion, leeks, celery, carrots–a hearty stock, and tasty chunks of kielbasa sausage. Basically, this soup just can’t go wrong. As long as you’re willing to do some choppity-chopping for about 10 or 15 minutes, the rest of the soup makes itself.

Well . . . kind of.

Anyway, it’s a great dish for a crowd, so break out your stock pot and your sharpest knife and enjoy!

And at this point, it’s time to insert random pictures of my adorable toddler.

She’ll be two at the end of October, and right now, lifting things is her life.

Popcorn is also her life.

She calls is “pakazzah.”

We dress up in bibs together.

Enjoy the soup, my friends!

Ingredients

(Serves 8)

1 pound French green lentils
¼ cup olive oil
3 large onions, diced
2 leeks, white and light green parts finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp kosher salt
1 ½ tsp black pepper
1 ½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground cumin
8 stalks celery, diced
5-6 carrots, diced
3 quarts chicken stock
¼ cup tomato paste
1 ½ lbs kielbasa sausage, cut in half-moons
1 TBS red wine vinegar
Sprinkling of Parmesan

Put the lentils in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them sit for 15 minutes, then drain.
Heat the olive oil in a huge pot (like a stock pot) and add the onions, leeks, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme and cumin. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
Add the celery and carrots, and cook for another 10 minutes.
Pour in the chicken stock, and add the tomato paste and lentils. Bring it to a boil.
Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for about 1 hour, uncovered, until the lentils are tender.
Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.
Add the sausage and vinegar. When the sausage is hot, it’s ready to go!
Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with a little Parmesan, and with a loaf of crusty French bread.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Lentil Sausage Soup

For many years, my sisters and I have been searching for the perfect pizza crust. A pizza crust the likes of our childhood pizza escapades to Telepizza (a Spanish pizza chain). Their crust is firm, chewy, and full of delightful holes. Stretchy, not at all floppy, browned, glorious. We have wanted to recreate this crust for so long.

Finally, Erica landed on a crust that, while not in the realms of Telepizza glory, is certainly getting closer than ever before. In fact, it’s the best homemade pizza crust I’ve ever made.

I’ll even add that I’m sticking with this one unless she comes up with something better in the years ahead. I’m committing–ceasing my search. Resting my case. And enjoying the wonder that is the Firm and Chewy Pizza Crust.

And by the way, while you’re at it, you all should check out Erica’s blog–she posted a recipe for zucchini fritter thingies last week that has my mouth watering.

Now let’s make some pizza dough!

Ingredients

(makes 2 medium to large pizzas)

3 cups bread flour + extra for kneading
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
1 – 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water

I just have to interject my amazement here–isn’t the simplicity of these ingredients fabulous? After perusing recipes that contain sugar, honey, special flours, mixes of different kinds of special flours, etc., I could hardly believe that this great crust didn’t have any bells and whistles.

Put the bread flour in a large bowl, stirring in the yeast and salt.

Stir in the water until a soft (not sticky) dough forms.

Start with a cup, and add up to 1/3 cup more as needed.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface . . .

. . . and knead for 3 minutes, adding flour if the dough starts sticking to your hands or the surface.

By the end of the 3 minutes, the dough should be very soft. Or, as the French like to say it, très softée.

Sprinkle the bowl with flour, put the lump of dough back in, and sprinkle the top with flour as well.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it sit in a warm place for 2 hours.

An hour before you’re ready to bake, heat the oven to 500 F with a pizza stone inside, on the lowest rack (close to the element). You want the pizza stone to heat up gradually with the oven.

This is also a great time to prep your toppings! For extra delicousness, I browned the mushrooms in a skillet:

I browned the pineapple too for my Hawaiian pizza, and man did that make those pieces of fruit sing a song of celebration!

When the dough is done rising (see how much bigger it is?) . . .

. . . turn it out onto a lightly floured counter and divide it into two pieces. Flatten each piece into a disc and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Cut two large pieces of parchment paper, and shape one pizza on each piece of paper, trying to avoid using the rolling pin to extend the dough (which will squash out the desirable air bubbles). If you want a nice thick crust along the edges, leave extra thickness around the perimeter.

Add the toppings you want–tomato sauce, veggies, cheese–leaving the crust area clear so that it will puff up in the oven. We did one Hawaiian which was to my taste . . .

. . . and one laden with pepperoni.

For my pepperoni-crazed husband.

I piled on three different kinds of cheeses–mozzarella, an Italian mix, and a little gouda.

Also, you’ll notice that I folded the crust over at the edges to make it thicker, but that didn’t turn out so well. When I made this recipe again the following week, I simply left a thicker rim around the edge, and it turned out much better. I guess it needed to freedom and space to poof to its fullest potential . . . or something.

Slide the parchment paper with the pizza on top onto the hot baking stone and bake for 10-14 minutes, until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

This is when the period of intense waiting begins.