Keep Warm With This Beautiful
Lentil soup

Lentil soup is almost old as man himself. The Bible talks about lentil soup that Jacob made and his brother Esau wanted that soup so badly, he sold his right as firstborn.

We are not suggesting you do that after eating this soup, rather, we are highlighting one of the world's earliest food. Lentils are highly nutritious legumes. Many believe that lentils have their origins in the Near East, countries like Egypt, Israel or Turkey, making the mention of it in the Bible authentic as many in that region are familiar with this meal.

Egyptian Lentil soupLentil soup is almost as old as man himself. The Bible talks about lentil soup that Jacob made and his brother Esau wanted that soup so badly, he sold his right as firstborn.

How To Cook Lentil Soup

Unlike many legumes, lentils are easy to cook, requiring no soaking before cooking. Just give your lentils a good rinse, transfer to a pot, add water to cover lentils and bring to a boil over medium heat. Then, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for the rest of the cooking. It usually takes me about 20 minutes to get tender lentils but cook until they are to your required tenderness. Add salt to taste as the lentils will still take in your seasoning at the end of your cooking. Serve on its own, add to salads and stews or puree as we will be doing in our recipe below.

My Lentil Soup Recipe

My preferred lentils are red. You also need mixed vegetables and a hand-held blender or just any blender you have. Be careful with pouring hot liquid in your blender. I once lost a blender to hot liquid. However, some stronger blenders like Vitamix withstand heat but if you are not sure of yours, please use a hand blender or allow the liquid to cool for a bit before pouring into your blender.

Lentil Soup

Servings: 6-8

Prep Time: 20min

Cooking Time: 1hour 30min

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 small onion (chopped)
  • 1 medium-size potato (diced)
  • 1 cup of red letils(rinsed)
  • 1 cup diced celery( take out the strings before dicicng)
  • 2 cups of diced carrots or baby carrots
  • 2 medium sized roma tomatoes(chopped)
  • 1 tbsp diced ginger
  • 5 garlic cloves(minced)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cummin powder
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground paprika
  • 2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 litre of chicken stock or vegetable stock
  • juice of one lemon
  • chooped parsley for garnishing
  • salt to taste

Method

Heat a heavy-based pot and melt butter

Sautee the onion, garlic and ginger 5-7 minutes

stir in all spices for about a minute or two

Add all the vegetables for about 5 minutes

Stir in tomato 5 minutes

Stir in potato, lentils and stock for about 5 minutes reduce heat and simmer until lentils and vegetables are tender.

Use a hand blender and puree everything in the pot.

Check for salt and pepper and add the lemon juice.

Simmer until soup is thickened the way you like, or add more liquid to lighten up if it is too thick.

Serve with crusty bread, sprinkle some parmesan if you like or serve with yoghurt.

Bon appetite. Gorgeous in the winter comfort all year round.

Recipe provided by www.AfricanFoods.co.uk

lentil soupLentil soup ingredients in a pot, cooking. Warm, comforting soup.

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