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Best Lentil Soup Recipe

best lentil soup recipe
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Hearty, adaptable and so easy to make. This recipe is a must for the family repertoire.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 4 stalks celery, halved lengthways and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 2 tbspn tomato puree
  • 1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed in a sieve
  • 1.5 litres vegetable (or chicken) stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • zest and juice of half a lemon
  • 1 cup crumbled feta
  • 1 cup fresh parsley
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To garnish

  • Chilli flakes

Optional additions

  • Leftover roasted vegetables like squash, peppers, courgette.
  • Fresh spinach

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot
  2. Saute’ the onion for 2 minutes, with the lid on the pan (this keeps the moisture in and lessens the chance of onions burning)
  3. Add the celery and garlic and saute’ for a further two minutes, keeping the lid on and stirring once or twice
  4. Add the cumin and paprika, stir to incorporate and cook for a minute or two (keep that lid on and stir a couple of times so that it doesn’t stick)
  5. Add the carrots, corn, lentils and tomato puree, giving them a good stir so that all ingredients are well coated
  6. Add the vegetable stock, bay leaves, oregano and lemon juice (save the zest for garnish)
  7. Bring to a simmer and then cook for 30 minutes, with the lid partially on, until the lentils are soft and begin to disintegrate
  8. Remove half to three-quarters of the mixture and blend until smooth (blend it all, if you prefer a completely smooth soup)
  9. Add this back into the pot
  10. Add salt and pepper to taste. At this point, you can also add more lemon juice, if you wish.
  11. Serve topped with feta, chopped parsley and lemon zest and chilli flakes on the side

Notes

Leave out the lemon and feta if you prefer a basic lentil soup. Parmesan, chorizo or sour cream are delicious alternatives.

All ingredients differ, so make sure you taste the soup as you go.

If you feel that that soup is too thick, add more vegetable stock to thin it out

Find it online: https://juliapratten.com/best-lentil-soup/