Ham Hock Lentil Soup
This is one of Matt’s faves — long has he spoken of its powers, but I had never made it until yesterday.
Ingredients
- 1 large ham hock
- 2 litres of chicken stock
- 1.5 litres of water
- 80ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 leek, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 sticks celery, sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds, roughly grounded
- 1 red chili, sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can of crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1 cup red lentils
- Mountain Bread
- Plain yoghurt
- Hot chili sauce
- Fresh coriander
Method
Cut hock into large pieces and place in a pot with the bone, 1l stock and water. Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, over low heat for about 30 mins.
Heat olive oil in a saucepan and cook onion, leek, garlic, celery and carrot over medium heat for 10 minutes until golden, and then stir in herbs and spices.
Add cooked vegetables to hock meat with tomatoes, tomato paste and the rest of the stock. Simmer over low heat for 55 minutes until thick and tasty.
To serve, toast mountain bread in a sandwich press and break pieces over soup. Spoon over yoghurt, a little chili sauce, and a sprinkling of coriander.
Instant Pot adaptation
Do the vegetables first (using the sauté setting), then transfer them to a bowl.
Cook the ham hock meat and bone in 2.5 litres of water on high pressure for 15 mins. (I totally forgot the stock! The soup is super-tasty without it though.)
Return the vegetables to the pot, along with rice, lentils, tomato paste and tomatoes. In my Instant Pot there was no room for more liquid, so I just cooked it all at high pressure for 30 minutes. It really was over-full, I probably should have removed the ham bone to reduce risk of death, but HERE I AM, telling you the tale of the very tasty soup.
Ham Lentils Matt Virginia Soup