Green Lentil Soup(Yesil Mercimek Corbasi)

Ingredients:

• Green Lentils.......2/3 cups
• Milk......................1 cup
• Water....................6 cups
• Bread (stale).........2 thin slices
• Onion....................1 medium
• Paprika.................½ tea spoons
• Margarine............4 table spoons
• Flour......................2 table spoons
• Rice.......................¼ tea cup
• Salt........................2 desert spoons
• Egg........................1 ea

Directions:

Wash lentils and oak the night before in 1 cup of water. Peel, wash and finely chop the onion. Place in sauce pan with margarine, cover and cook for 2 - 3 minutes until tender, stirring from time to time, add flour and stir fry until slightly browned. Wash the rice, add to onion - flour mix -together with the lentils and the remaining water, stir until it starts to boil. Cook for 30 40 minutes. Pass trough a sieve or blend, add salt and replace on heat. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with milk, warm it by adding a few spoon full of hot soup. Add the egg - milk mixture to the soup gradually while stirring constantly and turn off heat when it comes to boil. Mean time, cut up the bread into 1 cm cubes and put on a tray and bake in the oven. Serve the soup with red pepper and bread croutons.