Step 1

Put lentils in a large bowl, cover with water and soak for several hours or overnight; drain and rinse. Discard any that are floating.

Step 2

Saute celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in a little olive oil until soft.

Step 3

Add rest of ingredients for “Lentil part” of soup. Cover and simmer about 45 minutes; stirring a few times during the cooking.

Step 4

While lentils are cooking, prepare the "Tomato sauce" part of the recipe. In a medium-size saucepan, heat oil and garlic and then stir in tomatoes and season. Simmer uncovered, 15-20 minutes.

Step 5

Remove all the bay leaves and discard.

Step 6

Transfer half of the lentils to a food processor or use an immersion blender and puree until smooth. Return to other portion. This way the soup has some texture but not all chunky. Sometimes I puree a little bit more than half the amount.

Step 7

Add tomato sauce to lentil batch and cook another 15 minutes.

Step 8

Serve with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan and a drizzle of good olive oil if you wish.