10-6-11 Dinner Blog

Winter Lentil Soup Over Pasta, Steamed Pumpkin, Pears, and a Side Salad

Dinner Prep

This was an easy meal to put together. The soup and squash were already prepared and I had made the pasta earlier in the day, as I knew dinnertime was going to be crunch time.

15 minutes before we were ready to sit down, I warmed the soup on the stove, and the pasta and squash, (separately), in the microwave.  While I was warming everything up, I cut 2 pears and made a green salad with carrots, tomatoes, figs and fresh thyme leftover from the soup recipe, topping the salad with no oil balsamic vinaigrette.  Once the soup was warm, I portioned some pasta and topped it with the soup, being careful not to pour too much of the liquid on the plate.  I served the meal, offering grated Manchenga cheese (from sheep’s milk).  You could use cheddar or Parmesan.

3 Servings of Winter Lentil Soup Over Pasta, Steamed Pumpkin, Pears and Side Salad

The Verdict
I never cease to be amazed!  My son rated it an 8, saying it was really good but one serving of that soup a week was good enough for him.  My husband rated it a nine, saying it was delicious and he really enjoyed the novelty of having the soup over noodles.  My daughter LOVED it and gave it a 9.7!  (I did go lightly on the kale for her portion.) She loves pasta and asked if I would add noodles to the soup recipe when we have it as soup.

I really liked the reinvention of putting the soup over the pasta.  The flavors in the soup had time to mellow and it was delicious as a “sauce” over pasta.

I still have some soup left which I will use this weekend for lunches. …My son may be having peanut butter and jelly instead…