Tuesday 25 January 2011

Lentil Soup

I love soup nearly every soup.  I could have it everyday 3 times a day and not get sick of it.  Red lentil soup is one of my favorites.  It is a very basic soup and highly nutritious.  The recipe I will give you is the basic lentil soup from the Adana region.

400gr red lentils                                                                      
2 tbsp red pepper paste or tomato paste
salt to taste
water
oil
1 tbsp dried mint
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp pepper paste or tomato paste


When I make soups I judge the amount of water, I usually don't go for runny soups rather preferring a soup with a bit of body.  For this soup I would add enough water to cover then about  2 more cups to start with, then if needed add towards the end.  I also cook my soups longer than is probably necessary as I like everything melding into each other. I would cook this for over an hour even though I will tell you 45 minutes.  This soup is made by me nearly every day in winter and quite frequently in  the hotter months.

Wash the lentils well then add into a large saucepan.  Add water and salt and the pepper paste.  Cook for about 45 minutes.  Taste and adjust the salt level if needed.  Add more water if necessary.  I use my hand blender and blend this soup or you can pass it through a colander until smooth.  In a separate smaller saucepan put about 4 tbsp of olive oil, pepper paste, crushed garlic and mint.  Cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant.  Pour this on top of the soup at service, either into the saucepan or into the separate serves.  This is nice served as a main with Coban salad and Cacik with bread. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Variation

What I gave you was the traditional recipe.  I also make this same soup but add a couple of onions, potatoes and carrots.

I also like a decent chicken soup or chicken and corn soup, most asian soups, brocolli and pumpkin.  Whats your favorite soup?

6 comments:

  1. We live in a rather dreary climate 9 months out of the year, so we eat quite alot of soup.

    We eat potato, chicken and minestrone the most often. I've found that as long as I make dumplings with it, the girls will eat almost any kind of soup. ;)

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  2. We love lentil soup. I always add a potato, like you mentioned, just for extra thickness and we don't blend it in winter. It somehow feels more wholesome and warming with the coarseness still there. :)

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  3. One of my stock fortnightly recipes on rotation is Chicken and dumplings. Easy to cook and my kids and husband eat it. I make ours from chicken bones sold for soup stock.

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  4. I agree with you Julia it does so does a good green lentil soup. I have 2 small kids who need thier soups pretty much pureed or they wont eat it.

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  5. I like my soups thick unless they're an Asian style broth. I can get Hungarian red pepper paste at the European deli, I guess it would be similar?

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  6. I am sure that would be the same. It is a concentrate of the red peppers that is all. I prefer it over the tomato.....Good find.

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