lentil soup with quadrucci / minestra di lenticchie con i quadrucci

By stancec44

As the nights begin to cool, the weather becomes perfect for lentil soup. This one features fresh pasta (recipe separate - see Fresh Quadrucci) in La Cucina). You can also buy fresh pasta sheets and cut those to size to add to the soup, or use dried.

Ingredients

• 1 medium leek (white and pale green parts only), quartered lengthwise and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
• Fine sea salt
• 1 cup small brown lentils, such as castelluccio or colfiorito
• 5 1/4 cups beef broth
• 1/2 pound fresh quadrucci (recipe at right) or dried quadrucci (available at
some supermarkets and specialty stores)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Step 1

Wash leek well in a bowl of cold water, agitating it, then lift out and pat dry.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add leek and pinch salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes. Add lentils and broth. Bring just to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

Increase heat to bring soup to a low boil, then, while stirring to keep squares from sticking to one another, add pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is just tender, 3 to 4 minutes (if using dried pasta, cook until al dente). Remove from heat and let stand 1 to 2 minutes, stirring once or twice to allow pasta to absorb flavor of soup.

Ladle soup into bowls; drizzle with oil and sprinkle with pepper.