Kickstart 2024 with 'Lenticchie'. An Italian soup recipe for good luck and abundance

I love the New Year because it gives us a clean slate, an opportunity to start afresh. With this new beginning, it's no wonder we all hope the next 364 days will be full of goodness and kindness.

Interestingly, this wish for luck and abundance does not have to stop there. In Italy, a special soup is served on January 1, which is held to pack good luck and prosperity for the upcoming year. Are you interested in trying it out and serving it to your loved ones? No problem. A tried-and-tested recipe for this delicious soup is attached with a powerful intent.

It's widely agreed that Italian cuisine is renowned globally for its compelling and unique dishes. Today's focus, Lenticchie, is no exception: it's a nutrition-rich, delectable, and intriguing dish - genuinely irresistible.

The main ingredient of this delicious soup is lentils. In Italy, lentils hold a special significance - they're seen as symbols of happiness and abundance. Therefore, consuming a lentil-based soup on January 1 is believed to allow us to invite the best into our lives during the year.

Now that you know what this phenomenal Italian soup stands for, let's move to the exact step-by-step preparation. Even those utterly new to cooking can easily follow this guide. Let's get started!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• A little over 1 oz. of olive oil
• 3 carrots
• 1 stalk of celery
• Approximately 1 lb. canned tomatoes
• About half a lb. of lentils
• Around 1 quart of homemade vegetable broth
• Spices: salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme

1. Begin your preparation by rinsing the lentils. Cover them with hot water and let them soak for at least 20 minutes.
2. While the lentils are soaking, proceed to peel and chop all the vegetables: onion, garlic, carrots, and celery.
3. Place a pot on the stove, pour in the olive oil and heat it up. Now, add your chopped vegetables to the pot. Allow this mix to simmer for several minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Once the vegetables soften, add in the soaked and drained lentils, homemade vegetable broth, and canned tomatoes.
5. Finally, add spices according to your taste.
6. Cook the soup on low heat for approximately 25 minutes and voila, your dish is ready to serve. Buon appetito!