Elizabeth Alexander shares a favorite recipe of her late husband's

This recipe, reprinted from Elizabeth Alexander's "The Light of the World," is a favorite from her late husband, Ficre Ghebreyesus.

Serves 4 to 6.

Note: You can use store-bought vegetable stock (you will need 2-3 cups). Tomato passata is a tomato purée similar to tomato paste and tomato sauce — but the tomatoes in the purée are uncooked, with no ingredients added. You can substitute tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes for a slightly different flavor.

For the stock:

• 2 heads fennel

• 2 heads kale

• 1 yellow onion, cut into large pieces

• 1 rib celery, cut into large pieces

• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

For the tomato curry sauce:

• 1 (24 oz.) can tomato passata (see Note)

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 2 tbsp. curry powder

• 1/2 tsp. cayenne

• 1/2 tsp. paprika

• 2 c. dry red lentils

• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

In a large, heavy pot, combine fennel, kale, onion, 2 large carrots, celery and 4 chopped garlic cloves with enough water to cover the vegetables by about a half-inch. Allow stock to simmer for 4 hours.

After the stock has been simmering for about an hour, you'll want to start making the tomato curry sauce. Combine the tomato passata, 2 chopped carrots, 3 chopped garlic cloves, curry powder, cayenne and paprika in another large heavy pot and allow to simmer 3 hours.

Add lentils to tomato curry sauce and let simmer 20 to 30 minutes more, adding stock as needed to thin it out (about 2 to 3 cups). The mixture should be thick and creamy, not soupy or dry.

Stir in fresh cilantro and remove from heat. Season with salt to taste. Serve lentils alongside basmati rice.