Easy Lentil Soup

19 Mar

Easy Lentil Soup

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I’ve made a version of this soup regularly since I first made it out of necessity. I had a baby in one arm and another child to feed, and this was quick, easy, used store cupboard ingredients and I could make it with one hand. What’s not to love?!

I always have a container in the freezer, and when there’s nothing planned for dinner I tip the frozen soup into a pan with a little boiling water and reheat with the lid on, stirring often, until there’s soup for dinner.

It’s pretty filling, and you can add more veg depending on what you have around. It’s an everything soup, so I hope you’ll use this as a base and make it your own.

Enjoy!

Lentil Soup

Serves 4

 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon each of your favorite spices e.g. turmeric, cumin, coriander and paprika

1 can chopped tomatoes or passata

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

300g red lentils, soaked for at least an hour beforehand or overnight

1 litre of stock or water

A big handful of spinach, kale, cavolo nero or fresh herbs, tough stalks removed and sliced

Juice of ½ lemon

Sea salt and pepper

 

Method

  • Soak the lentils in advance. When ready to make the soup, strain in a sieve and rinse well under running water. Set aside.
  • Add the garlic and oil to a large pan set over a medium heat. When the garlic is just starting to turn lightly golden, add the spices and stir for about 30 seconds.
  • Add the chopped tomato or passata, sweet potato, lentils and stock or water and bring to the boil. Put a lid on, turn the heat to low and simmer until the lentils and sweet potato are cooked through and soft. This might take anything from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Stir and check they are done.
  • Add more boiling water or stock if you like a thinner consistency.
  • Add the greens and allow to wilt for a few minutes.
  • Add salt and pepper and season to taste. You can blend the soup at this point if you like, or keep it chunky.
  • Serve with a good squeeze of lemon. I also like a little Parmesan grated on top, or pesto, herb oil, a spoon of preserved lemon ‘juice’ or a spoon of yoghurt stirred through.

 

Notes: This is a very versatile soup and is a great way of using up vegetables. Throw in chopped celery, carrot, courgette, leek, potato, squash, parsley or coriander stalks at the beginning, and softer vegetables or herbs towards the end.

Other lentils work well but might need longer to cook. Keep checking until they are soft.

If you have canned lentils, drain and add to the soup towards the end to heat through.

The soup freezes well. Reheat by tipping it out into a pan over a medium heat, add a splash of water and put on a lid. Stir occasionally until simmering.

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