slow cooker revolution — Eats.Reads.Thinks

Forget it, I'm going to keep making and posting soup recipes until this stupid weather breaks or I die. Whichever comes first. Slow Cooker Revolution is on a roll with what it touts as "Ultimate Lentil Soup." I don't really like lentil soup. I don't hate it but it's not my go-to. Jeeps loves it though, and he's been killing himself shoveling snow so I wanted to make it for him. It didn't hurt that the recipe called for bacon and mushrooms.

Well, friends, to cut to the chase: this soup is tits. Unbelievable flavor. I snuck in a can of black beans toward the end and the country-style texture of beans and lentils rocks. The mushrooms are killer. The chard is a treat. Bacon makes it all sexy. I stirred some frozen sweet corn into the kids' bowls to cool it off. And they ate it.

As my friend Art said, "This is not your mother's lentil soup."

Ultimate Not-Your-Mother's Lentil Soup

2 onions, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 tsp dried thyme
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups vegetable broth
4-5 slices bacon
3-5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2-3 large portobello mushroom caps, gills removed and cut into 1/2" pieces (the gills scrape right out with a spoon. You do this to keep the soup from getting muddy)
1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 bay leaves
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
8 ounces Swiss chard, stemmed and leaves cut 1/2" thick

Microwave onions, garlic, oil, tomato paste, porcini mushrooms and thyme in bowl, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir chicken broth, vegetable broth, bacon, carrots, portobello mushrooms, lentils and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 5-7 hours or low 9-11 hours, until lentils are tender.

Stir in black beans and chard, cover and cook on high until chard is tender, 20-30 minutes. Discard bacon and bay leaves. Serve.

The soup itself is Sicilian, not the chick peas. Most Italian soups feature cannellini beans but in Sicily, chick peas are the favored legume. The recipe comes from the Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook, Volume 2. You can make it in 7 hours in the slow cooker, or in 45 minutes on the stove top. It's not very attractive, but it's yum. It features fennel, garlic, oregano and red pepper. It also calls for anchovies, which I did not use, and escarole, which I did not have.

Stove Top Version

2 fennel bulbs, cored and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
2 8-oz cans chick peas, dried and rinsed
7 cups chicken broth
1/2 head escarole, chopped coarse, or 1/2 bag of frozen spinach

Heat olive oil in soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add fennel and saute 7-8 minutes. I found the soup very savory and kept looking for a sweet note. think if you really get the fennel caramelized it will bring that sweetness.

Add garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes, saute another 2-3 minutes.

Add chick peas and chicken broth. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes. Add spinach or escarole and cook until wilted, another 15 minutes.

Serve with a glug of olive oil and a big dollop of parmesan cheese

Slow Cooker Version

2 fennel bulbs, cored and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
2 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
8 oz dried chick peas
7 cups chicken broth
1/2 head escarole, chopped coarse, or 1/2 bag of frozen spinach

Microwave fennel, oil, garlic, oregano, anchovies and papper flakes in bowl, stirring occasionally, until fennel is softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker. Stir in chick peas and broth. Cover and cook until chick peas are tender—10 to 11 hours on low or 7 to 8 hours on high.

Stir in escarole or spinach, cover and cook another 15 minutes.

Serve with olive oil and parmesan.