WE LAUGH ABOUT lentils, but it’s like laughing with them, not at them. We laugh because one year a box burst open in my mother-in-law’s luggage; we spent twenty minutes picking tiny green bits out of her sweaters, skirts, shoes, and undergarments, and even then I think some made it back home with her. For years now, since learning of my preference for Du Puy lentils—and once she’d seen the cost of them here and proclaimed it robbery (as all exported goods are when compared with their domestic prices)—she has brought them with her from France every time she visits.

Du Puy lentils are worth the trouble. They’re also worth the inflated price I pay once the stash she brings me is gone. You can take it from me: I used to hate lentils, especially lentil soup. Maybe it was the brown lentils that turned me off, or some association with a bad recipe prepared in a school cafeteria. I just couldn’t stand their unappetizing color, their bland taste, and the way they’d go all mushy in an instant. The famous “lentilles vertes du Puy” changed all that: they are complex in flavor with an earthy, mineral taste, and they hold their shape incredibly well, staying firm and meaty even when I imagine I’m cooking them to death. I don’t remember why I first dared to try a recipe featuring these lentils, but I do recall that it was not long after that, that this soup was born (it may have been 2001). It has since become a universal family favorite—so much so, that I don’t even mind making them instead of Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day.

Eating beans on the first day of a new year is a good-luck tradition in many countries, though I used to think it was peculiar to the southern United States. In the South it’s black-eye peas with rice; in France it’s lentils. I try to rotate between the two. Either way, it’s a fine start to any year. So, let me give some advice, if I may: as you prepare your last errands for 2009, take time to find a pound of Du Puy lentils and make this soup, which can also be cooked down to a thick, stew-like consistency. It’s an easy recipe, allowing you plenty of time to dream up New Year’s resolutions while it simmers. Me? I resolve this: to not let the recipe go forgotten the other 364 days of the year. It’s too darn good.

“Bonne Année” Du Puy Lentil Soup

Ladle out prosperity, warmth, and a feeling of comfort for the new year with this hearty soup that features one of France’s very best products: Du Puy lentils, for which there is no substitution in my kitchen. Seek them out and you’ll know why they’re called poor man’s caviar. In this recipe, adapted from a David Waltuck favorite, the lentils are given a smoky boost with Canadian bacon, and the soup is versatile: you can serve it in bowls at the start of a meal or cook it down to a thick, no-liquid state and plate it alongside any main course. In fact, this dish is so good, it often becomes the one-and-only course for our family’s traditional January 1st meal—when I’m not making Hoppin’ John, that is. Bonne année!

Yield: serves 8 as a starter or side dish

Ingredients:

1 pound Du Puy lentils
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package (8-10 slices) Canadian bacon, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups chicken broth (I use organic low-sodium)
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Rinse lentils in a colander. (There is no need to soak them.) Sift through them carefully and extract any debris you may find. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add Canadian bacon, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic releases its aroma and the onion appears translucent.

Add the lentils, chicken broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Stir once and increase the heat to high. When soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover the pot, and simmer the lentils for 1 hour, removing the cover periodically to stir.

Taste and, if desired, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer until the soup reaches your desired consistency. To serve the lentils as a soup, watch the pot closely to make sure all the broth does not cook out; it can go quickly at the end. You can also deliberately simmer until very thick and suitable for plating as a side dish. Just make sure that the lentils do not scorch on the bottom of the pot.