A SOUP OF LENTILS, BACON, AND CHARD

A Soup of Lentils, Bacon, and Chard image

Yield enough for 4

Number Of Ingredients 11

a large onion
olive oil
garlic - 3 or 4 cloves
unsmoked bacon or pancetta - a good handful, chopped
flat-leaf parsley - a small bunch
chard - a large bunch
Puy or Castelluccio lentils - 1 1/4 cups (250g)
stock or, at a push, water - 4 cups (a liter)
a bay leaf - optional
juice of a lemon
mint - a small bunch

Steps:

Peel the onion and chop it finely, then let it soften in a deep pan over medium to low heat with a little olive oil. Peel the garlic, slice it thinly, then add to the onion with the chopped bacon or pancetta. Chop the parsley and stir it in.
Wash the chard thoroughly, set aside four beautiful stalks and their leaves, then separate the remaining stalks and leaves. Chop the stalks coarsely and set the leaves aside. Add the chopped chard stalks to the onion and bacon and continue cooking,
Wash the lentils thoroughly, then stir them into the onion and bacon. Pour over the stock or water and bring to a boil, skimming off any froth that comes to the surface. You can add a bay leaf or two if you like. Decrease the heat so that the lentils simmer merrily, then almost cover the pot and simmer until they are tender, but far from collapse-about thirty minutes, depending on your lentils.
Tear the reserved chard leaves up a bit. Stir them into the soup. Steam the reserved whole leaves and stalks until tender.
Season the soup with salt, black pepper, lemon juice, and the mint leaves, tasting as you go. Ladle the hot soup into warm bowls, add the steamed chard, and serve with more lemon and mint for those who want it.