Esau's Pottage

MaryAnne's Note:

A very hearty soup with Lamb, Lentils and veggies. I've been making it for over 20 years and even though my PC can hold double the recipe, I never seem to make enough. I wish I could tell you what book it came from, but I've moved and many of my books are still packed. This is named after the stew that Esau made for his brother Jacob from the Bible

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• ½ cup dried lentils
• 1 tablespoon salad oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• water , to cover
• ¼ cup salad oil
• 2 onions , sliced (1/4-inch slice)
• 1 lb ground lamb (since it can be hard to find ground lamb I've thrown in a couple of shoulder chops and shredded them)
• 1 ½ cups stewed tomatoes (15oz)
• ½ cup sliced carrot
• ½ cup diced celery (I just slice)
• ½ cup diced green pepper
• ½ cup diced parsnip (slice)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups water

Directions:

1. Mix together and soak overnight: Lentils oil,salt and water to cover.
2. Drain and discard liquid next day. (I have also eliminated this entire step without a problem).
3. Heat Pressure Cooker and add remaining ingredients along with the lentils.
4. Pressure cook for 20 min and let pressure drop on it's own.
5. I usually use more veggies and it comes out almost like a stew instead of a soup.
6. The parsnips really help to make this so try to include them.

Reviews

[Ginger Jar]

This is a very tasty recipe. I will definitely make it again. Only reason for 4 stars is that the 20 min cooking time in a pressure cooker is far too long. My vegetables turned to mush, almost like a paste. I checked similiar recipes and found that it's better to cook lentils, dried herbs, and beef broth (instead of water)for 8-10 min under high pressure, by themselves. Reduce pressure. Then add remaining ingredients & cook at high for 7 min. I also added 1/2 tsp ginger, 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp thyme, & 2 bay leaves. Extra herbs add a bit of extra zest & flavor. So try this, but cook alter the cooking times so lentils cook by themselves before adding veggies. Nutrious & tasty.

[VenomousKate]

This is really excellent and a very filling, nutritious dinner when combined with a loaf of crusty multi-grain bread. I don't have a pressure cooker, so I used my crockpot and let it cook on low all day. Also used ground turkey since lamb wasn't available. I'm going to try this again with the lamb, but we loved it either way! EDITED to reflect that, at MaryAnne's recommendation, I tried this with the lamb. A definite 5 star recipe!!!