Time

1.5 hours

Ingredients

1 (1 lb) bag of lentils
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 carrots or many baby carrots, chopped
2-3 ribs celery chopped
Ham bone or ham hock (otherwise you can use some chicken or vegetable broth and some deli ham)
Bay leaf
Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Soak lentils overnight and then cook for a half hour or so. Make sure they have plenty of water when soaking and cooking because they will expand and absorb the water. Otherwise you can cook lentils in water for an hour to 1 ½ hours until softened. Don’t put ham or chicken broth in until the lentils are cooked. The salt can prevent them from softening.
2. Saute the onions, carrots, and celery together
3. Once lentils are soft you can add the ham bone or broth and sauted veggies and seasoning. Cook another hour or more. Remove ham bone before serving if desired.
4. Serve with ditalini pasta.