Lentil Stewp^*
(soup or stew? you decide!)

Stock:
1 lb.	lentils
8 cups	water
1 large	potato, cubed
1	carrot, thinly sliced
2 stalks	celery, chopped
1 med.	onion, chopped
1 tsp.	sweet basil
	salt to taste
Roux:
8 tbsp	butter
12 tbsp	flour
2 cups	milk
1 pkg	Lawry's Spaghetti Sauce seasoning
Garnish:
2	Roma tomatoes, diced (or 1 large regular tomato)

Clean the lentils, add them to the water and bring to a boil. Add the veggies in the order listed. Make sure there is plenty of water to cover the whole works. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender.

Melt butter in saucepan and combine with flour. Don't get it too hot. Add milk slowly, stirring rapidly with whisk to avoid lumping. Add spaghetti sauce mix. Heat and stir constantly until smoothly blended. Do not boil

Stir roux into stock and bring to boil to thicken. Add water to adjust thickness to personal preference^*. Add fresh tomato and simmer for a minute or two more. Serves 4-6.

^* Stew is usually robust enough to be eaten with a fork. Broth is almost always eaten with a spoon. Traditional soups tend toward broth. My personal soup philosophy is that a good soup should present a serious dilemma - Do I use a spoon or a fork? Personally, I eat stewp with a spork.

© Terry Blackburn, 1997
you can make it, you can eat it, but please, give me a little credit!
let me know how it turns out