Cream Of Vegetable Soup With Ham And Lentils

• 100 g smoked ham
• 1 None onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 None carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
• 150 g celeriac, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 None leek, sliced
• 5 None black peppercorns
• 1 None bay leaf
• 75 g black lentils, soaked overnight in 500ml water
• 25 g butter
• 25 g plain flour
• 100 ml whipping cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 5 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1. Place the ham, onion, carrot, celeriac, leek, peppercorns, bay leaf and 4 cups water in a pot. Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 25 mins.
2. Meanwhile, cook the drained lentils in boiling water for 12-15 mins, until softened. Drain and set aside.
3. Remove the ham from the soup, then strain the vegetables, reserving the stock. Finely chop the ham. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the ham until crisp. Add the lentils and parsley and heat through. Keep warm.
4. Melt the butter in a clean saucepan, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 mins. Gradually pour in the reserved stock, stirring constantly, then whisk in the cream and mustard. Bring to a boil and season. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the ham and lentil mixture.

ham, onion, carrot, celeriac, black peppercorns, bay leaf, black lentils, butter, flour, whipping cream, mustard, oil, parsley

Taken from recipes-plus.com/api/v2.0/recipes/17122 (may not work)