A Holiday Treat: Something Soup from Barry Berg

Barry Berg invites us to try his recipe for Pumpkin Lentil Soup. Here, he shares not only his recipe, but also his secret to entertaining friends and family.

“When I first moved into a downtown condo, recognizing that I was likely to be someone’s guest for Thanksgiving dinner in future years, I decided to invite friends the ‘night before Thanksgiving’. This night, a soup and wine dinner, is a tradition I’ve now done for 25 consecutive years.” 

“What began as an evening with perhaps 14-15 guests has grown to accommodate closer to 45-50 guests, with the same formula from 25 years ago: Walter and I make 3 soups from scratch, invite guests to bring hors d’oeuvres, salads, and desserts, while we provide the soup and wine.  The food doesn’t compete at all with Thanksgiving dinner but is a terrific start to the holiday season.”

“This recipe was one of the soups I made for several years, even though we’ve since graduated to a variety of other options such as jambalaya, a lemongrass shrimp soup, and a parsnip pear soup.”

Pumpkin Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

❖ 1 large onion - chopped

❖ ¾ cup butter or margarine

❖ 4 ¾ cups chicken broth

❖ 1 cup canned pumpkin

❖ ⅓ cup lentils

❖ ¼ tsp pepper

❖ ¼ tsp marjoram

❖ ¼ tsp thyme

❖ Dash Tabasco

❖ 1 cup half and half - much less (optional)

❖ Salt to taste

Directions:

❖ Sauté chopped onion in butter/margarine

❖ Add chicken broth, pumpkin, lentils, pepper, marjoram, and thyme

❖ Simmer for one hour or until lentils are tender - purée 

❖ Add Tabasco, half and half, and salt

❖ Serve