Pasta & Lentil Soup With Smoked Pork Hocks
Recipe: #16981
January 24, 2015
Categories: Comfort Food, Dinner, Main Dish, Beans, Pork, Ham, Budget-Friendly, Easy/Beginner Cooking, Fall/Autumn, Sunday Dinner, Winter, Stove Top, Canned Tomatoes, Make it from scratch more
"I just love this soup, I've already made it a zillion times. It also freezes great. This requires the hocks to cook in the broth in another pot until they are very tender so you will need 2 pots. Total cooking is around 2 1/2 hours that's including the cooking of the smoked hocks. If you don't have smoked ham hocks, you can use smoked turkey drumsticks really anything smoked will do"
Ingredients
Nutritional
- Serving Size: 1 (1151.3 g)
- Calories 1137.3
- Total Fat - 48.2 g
- Saturated Fat - 14.4 g
- Cholesterol - 452.1 mg
- Sodium - 6322.2 mg
- Total Carbohydrate - 70.5 g
- Dietary Fiber - 27.9 g
- Sugars - 7.5 g
- Protein - 107.1 g
- Calcium - 196.6 mg
- Iron - 12.1 mg
- Vitamin C - 18.6 mg
- Thiamin - 1.1 mg
Step by Step Method
Step 1
In a large pot, add the chicken broth and smoked hocks; bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover tightly with a lid and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until the hocks are tender.
Step 2
When the hocks are tender, remove from the broth and remove the meat, return the meat to the broth.
Step 3
In another heavy large pot heat some olive oil. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils and mix to coat.
Step 4
Ladle in all the cooked hock meat and all the broth from the other pot, and the thyme; bring to a simmer, cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes.
Step 5
After 30 minutes of cooking time, stir in the pasta, continue simmering until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Step 6
Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
Tips & Variations
- 2 large pots