Soaking puy lentils for Lentil and Sausage soup?

I want to make this ( http://www.food52.com/recipes... ) recipe for tonight, I went out and bought some puy lentils. I prefer a thin soup to a thick stew so I figured I'd soak the lentils first to help combat that. I've never actually cooked with lentils, before though and now everything I read on google specifically says not to soak lentils - or that you don't need to.

Can anyone weigh in on this?

darksideofthespoon
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5 Comments

darksideofthespoon
darksideofthespoon October 22, 2012
I ended up soaking the puy lentils for about a total of 4 hours, simmered them in a separate pot until I liked the texture, drained and added them to the soup with more stock to cover. The soup turned out AMAZING! Very brothy - I'm a huge fan. Will be making this plenty throughout the winter months!
 
Kenzi W.
Kenzi W. October 22, 2012
Yes, just decrease your cooking time slightly -- they'll cook much faster. Tasting is the absolute best way in the book to check for doneness.
 
Monita
Monita October 22, 2012
Lentils just need to be rinsed not soaked. If you find the soup is too thick for your liking you can always add a little liquid at the end to get it to the consistency you want
 
darksideofthespoon
darksideofthespoon October 22, 2012
That's great to know! Sadly I already soaked them. :P I suppose I just won't have to cook them as long?
 
Kenzi W.
Kenzi W. October 22, 2012
I've made this soup plenty of times, and I never soak them! Simply cook them right in your broth until they're tender, and you're done. They won't thicken your soup too much, either -- mine always comes out nice and brothy.
 
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