"I love this recipe, friends crave it, some have me over once a month just to cook this ( :P ) and my husband who doesn't eat soup and wouldn't even try lentils ate it up in seconds! I do love this, as its great tasting and well worth the effort! This is seriously something you must try! Its something I have perfected over the years, so my measurement are guesstimates but they are pretty spot on! This is one of those recipes that takes an afternoon to cook and tastes even better the next day, but this makes a lot of soup and it freezes so well its worth it! This is a thick soup so could be served as a meal!If you absolutely need to add meat, I cook a generous amount of thinly sliced prosciutto and serve on top of soup under the shredded Parmesan...."