Hearty Lentil Soup
Serves: 4 people
Takes: 30 mins to 1 hour
This recipe is full of healthy ingredients and can easily be adapted for those who feel they need some meat in their diet.
This version only contains veggies but you can easily fry off some smoky pancetta with the onions if you wish.
Ingredients
300g lentils, I like green lentils for this recipe but any will do
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, sliced
2 dried red chillies
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large red chilli (seeds removed if you like), sliced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 litres hot vegetable stock
100g baby broccoli, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
150g spinach/rocket, washed and drained
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Method
Wash the lentils in several changes of water and leave to soak whilst you fry the onions.
In a heavy based pan gently heat the oil and fry the onions.
When they begin to soften and start to colour around the edges, remove a few tablespoons and set aside, leaving the rest in the pan to go a deep golden brown.
Remove them from the pan, set them aside and return the softened onions into the same pan.
Add the dried red chillies, garlic, most of the fresh red chilli, bay leaves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns. Saute for 2 minutes.
In the meantime drain the lentils and add them to the pan.
After a few minutes, once the garlic has softened and the seeds are toasted, pour in the hot vegetable stock. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Gently boil for around 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Top up with more water/stock if you think it's looking dry.
Add in the baby broccoli and cherry tomatoes.
After a few minutes stir through the spinach/rocket and most of the lemon juice.
Serve in a deep bowl topped with the caramelised onions, reserved fresh sliced red chilli and a little more lemon juice.
My Tip: In case the chilli is a little too hot, I like to serve some thick greek yoghurt on the side which adds a lovely contrast to the piping hot soup.
