3 tablespoons of dried lentils
1/2 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons of cream
Meat stock

"Cover the lentils with water and boil until they are quite soft. Pass them through a colander or a sieve. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the lentils and cream, mixing well, then add a ladleful of the stock and boil for a few minutes; then add the rest of the desired amount of stock, a ladleful at a time."

This recipe was taken from "Simple Italian Cookery" written by Antonia Isola (pen name for Mabel Earl McGinnis). It was published in the United States by Harper and Brothers in 1912. It is believed to be the first American cookbook that contains Italian recipes. For the complete copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org. A variety of recipes from this cookbook can also be found on this website see Italy Revisited/ "XXX Italian Cookbook by Antonia Isola".... Photo: Mary Melfi.

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