Winter Soup - Ham and Lentil

We are in the middle of a rare cold period with actual snow on the ground (relatively rare here, and not so much that it a problem for driving with suitable tires) and wanted to make some winter soup. This one is simple but very tasty, and like most soups gets better the day after. Season to taste - you could use thyme, or any number of other herbs that appeal to you. The recipe serves about 8 people.

Ham Hock and Lentil Soup

8-10 servings
8 cups water
2 ½ lb. ham hock trimmed of fat
2 cups lentils (canned or soaked overnight)
4 carrots thinly sliced
4 celery stalks thinly sliced
1 large onion chopped
3 tbs chopped parsley
1-2 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf

Put all ingredients in a large soup pot and simmer for 1 ½ hours

Remove bay leaf, remove ham hock and shred meat and return to pot

S&P to taste.

[Jenise]

Is your ham hock smoked? That would be the norm down here, but I'm not sure things are smoked much up there. Our markets (on the left coast where I've resided all my life, anyway) are otherwise devoid of pork shanks--a tragedy, as it's a great piece of meat.

I'm a little surprised at the pre-soak on the lentils. They cook so quickly all by themselves, and there's enough water here for them to cook from dried/raw.

Agree with you on the lentils - even dried they should really soften in that cooking time. My original source specified that and I passed it on, but I almost always used tinned lentils myself. We get both smoked and unsmoked ham/pork, so you have to specify when ordering.