Greek Lentil Soup Faki Soupa Recipes

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKES SOUPA)

Steps:

• Soak lentils in a large bowl or container covered with lots of water for 2-4 hours (or overnight). Drain and rinse well.
• Sauté the onions and celery in a large pot over medium-high heat in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until softened and beginning to brown (about 3 minutes).
• Add the garlic, sauté until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
• Pour in the red wine and stir, cooking until it has reduced by about half (about 2 minutes).
• Add the vegetable stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, herbs, salt, pepper, and soaked lentils.
• Stir, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low for 30 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
• Turn off heat and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil and the red wine vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• Serve!

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKI)

Steps:

• Prepare the lentils: Lentils are harvested by machine so often they come with small rocks and irregular looking beans that you do not want in your soup. To check the lentils, pour them in small batches onto a plate so they are able to spread out. Give them a quick look over, remove any foreign objects, and dump them into a bowl. Repeat until you have checked all of your lentils. Then fill the bowl with cold water and rinse your lentils 2-3 time to remove any dust or bean skins. Throw the lentils into a big soup pot.
• Dice your carrots and celery and throw them into the pot as well.
• Add 2 boxes of stock to the pot and put the soup on a high heat until it boils and then reduce to medium. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are done.
• To finish the soup, turn the heat to low. Now add the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. The soup is finished with a liberal addition of red wine vinegar, which adds an important top note to the soup. We often add it to the soup and then have the vinegar on the table to allow folks to add additional vinegar to their liking.
• Optional Ingredients: Over the years I have tried out other Faki recipes. Here are my favorite additions from those experiments. The bulgur bulks up the soup into more of a stew. Despite how successful the soup can be if you add some (or all) of thee additions, I still most often stick with the basic soup. To add the additions, the tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and/or bulgur wheat goes in at the same time as the stock. The additional spices go in during the seasoning phase.

GREEK LENTIL SOUP (FAKES)

Steps:

• Place lentils in a large saucepan; add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring water to a boil and cook for 10 minutes; drain.
• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and carrot; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have softened, 30 to 40 minutes. Add additional water if the soup becomes too thick. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste.

FAKES (TRADITIONAL GREEK LENTIL SOUP)

Steps:

• Boil one glass of water and add the lentils. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then drain the lentils. That way the soup is lighter!
• Put in the pot enough warm water and add the lentils. Put the onion, the bay leaves, the garlic and the tomato paste. Boil in high heat with the lid on for 10 minutes. Add the oil, salt and pepper to taste. Keep boiling for 30 minutes.