White Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

225g split lentils
1.75l cold water
2 celery sticks, chopped
2 stalks of parsley
1 onion, diced
1 blade of mace
8 white peppercorns
45g butter
45g plain flour
300ml milk
150ml single cream
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Wash the lentils and drain in a colander. Turn into a pan, pour over the cold water and bring to a boil. Skim the surface well then add the celery, mace, parsley, onion and peppercorns.

Bring to a brisk boil and cook, uncovered, for 90 minutes. Take off the heat, then press the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve and set aside.

Melt the butter in a pan, scatter over the flour and stir to form a smooth roux. Whisk in the milk, a little at a time until smooth. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened then add a little of the strained soup. Now whisk in the remaining lentil stock and bring to a boil

Take off the heat, stir in the cream, season to taste with salt and black pepper then turn into a tureen and serve with sippets of fried Breads (thin slices of brad cut into triangles and fried).