I had already stated here that I love soup. All types and variations , and I never tire of eating soup. Except when the weather gets warm. Then, it’s not an option. I usually prefer eating my vegetables raw in Summer, mostly in salads. I also make an effort to add more vegetables to other dishes, like pasta, rice or noodles. Very easy to grill some vegetables and add to these or make up a stir fry.
But since the warm weather seems to be quite some way away at the moment, here is another of my favourite soup recipes.
Lentil Soup.
You will need:
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 stick celery. chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 200-250g red (or any other type) lentils, soaked overnight or for several hours
- 1 can tomato polpa
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- about 1 litre vegetable stock
In a large pot, warm the olive oil and start your soffritto by gently sauteeing all the chopped vegetables. Cook until they start softening, but not browning. Add the curry powder and stir for a minute. This is optional, but gives a nice flavour. Ground coriander is also a good option if you prefer. Then add the drained lentils, polpa and stock. Season with some salt and pepper and leave to simmer until everything is cooked through and the soup starts thickening. I like to blend this soup completely and it turns into a lovely, creamy and brightly coloured soup. As I stated further up, you can opt for other types of lentils. If you use green or brown you need to cook them for slightly longer and they make a chunkier soup. Another alternative is to use a mix of lentils.
I love to serve this with nice thick slices of garlic bread. So enjoy, while it’s still the right temperature for it.
