Winter vegetable soup with crispy salami

Its turned really cold and wintery all of sudden, so I was definitely in the mood for a warming soup.....This winter vegetable soup with crispy salami is the perfect antedate to winter.  Its a great way of using up any vegetables in your fridge too.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large red onion
1 clove of garlic (minced)
2 carrots
1 cauliflower
1 potato
1/2 savoy cabbage
100g puy lentils
1.75 / 3 pints of good chicken stock
Large squirt of tomato puree
Salt and pepper to taste

4 slices per person of salami


Chop and saute the onion, garlic, until soft, adding the carrots, and softening further.  Add the tinned tomatoes and puree, bringing to a simmer.

Add the chicken stock, and simmer further for 15-20 mins until carrots are soft.  Slice the potatoes and cauliflower, and add to the soup.  Simmer for a further 20 mins, adding shredded cabbage around 5 mins before the end.

I like the soup to be quite rustic with large bits, and generally take a potato masher to break down the lumps to be about the same size.

For the salami, heat in a pan until the visbile white specks of fat have dissolved.

When crisp, drain on kitchen paper.

Serve in deep bowls with crusty bread or breadsticks, and the salami crumbled over the top.

I would love to pretend that my family loved this and wolfed it down. They ate it, but won't be begging for it again soon.

Jamies verdict: not enough meat;  Abbis response is not printable, and Mr PSGC declared it delicious...(but would prefer a steak!).   I am ignoring their comments as it was very tasty.

I will persevere in my vegetable indoctrination!

P.S.  If you want a vegetarian version, obviously substitute chicken stock with vegetable stock, and serve with a hefty sprinkle of parmesan in exchange for the salami.