ZUPPA DI LENTICCHIE E CARCIOFI or LENTIL AND ARTICHOKE SOUP

This is not a good looking dish, nor is it anything special about it but it is a wonderful soup to eat when you need some comfort and warmth. It's thick and savoury and it made me happy. It just shows that what might seem boring and unstylish (this is a 'trackback' to the earlier discussion about how a food blog should be) can be of utter and sheer comfort and pleasure when you get behind the appearance and under the surface.




ZUPPA DI LENTICCHIE E CARCIOFI or LENTIL AND ARTICHOKE SOUP
4 servings

The white part of 1 leek
2 artichokes
200 ml / 0.85 cup small brown lentils
1000 ml / 4.25 cup light stock
100 ml / 0.42 cup tomato sauce
salt
extra-virgin olive oil
smoked Spanish paprika, optional

- Slice the leek finely. Clean and trim the artichokes and then you slice them finely as well lengthwise.
- Braise them gently in some olive oil for 2-3 minutes and the you add the lentils. Go on braising for 3-4 minutes and then you add the stock and the tomato sauce.
- Let it simmer until the lentils are soft and a little bit mushy. I never let my lentils soak so I have to cook them longer but it is quite fast anyway, if you want you can shorten the cooking time by soaking them first for 24 hours.
- When it's ready, serve them with a dusting of smoked Spanish paprika on top. But it's good without it as well.