Lentil and Bacon Soup

This is a really easy recipe, and although it takes a few pans to prepare, it's worth it for the bit of extra washing up involved

1. 1

   To make the stock, simmer the bacon joint in a large pan following the timing instructions on the meat - ensure that the joint is covered by water. Once cooking time is up, remove meat and reserve. Let water cool, and skim off any residual fat.
   Boil the lentils in a separate pan for 10 minutes, drain and reserve.
   Chop the vegetables roughly and gently cook in a dash of olive oil until softened in the pan you are going to make the soup in. Add the bacon stock and the lentils and simmer for 30 minutes - add pepper, more salt shouldn't be required as bacon stock should be salty enough. Should be about 3 litres of soup, add more boiling water if needed.
   Blend soup to smooth consistency, and serve with chopped up bits from the boiled bacon joint, reheated thoroughly and thrown on top of the soup like croutons.