Red lentil soup: thick, warming, ready in half an hour
The soup for an evening when the fridge holds only an onion and a carrot and the cupboard a bag of lentils: red lentils need no soaking and collapse into a thick, velvety cream on their own, no blender. Paprika and tomato paste give colour and depth, lemon at the end lifts the flavour. Twenty minutes of simmering, half an hour from board to bowl, four portions for a few coins.
Your own work in that: 12 min.
- Chopping, frying and bringing to the boil 12 min
- Cooking 20 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneSoften the onion and carrot
Dice the onion finely, cut the carrot into small dice or grate coarsely. Heat the oil in a pot and fry the vegetables over medium heat 5 minutes, until the onion turns translucent. Add the crushed garlic for the last minute.
Ingredients: 250 g red lentils · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs carrots · 2 cloves garlic · 2 tbsp oil · 2 tbsp tomato paste · 1 tsp sweet paprika · ½ tsp curry powder or ground cumin · 1200 ml vegetable stock · 1 pcs bay leaf · ½ pcs lemon, juice · ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Onion, carrot, garlic at the endFry the tomato paste and spices
Add the tomato paste, paprika and curry and stir 1 minute over low heat, until the paste darkens and smells sweet. A brief fry softens its raw sourness and gives the soup a depth that dropping it into water never does.
TipPaprika burns within seconds and turns bitter. Low heat, constant stirring and liquid straight after.
Paste and paprika, a minute, low heatAdd the lentils and stock
Rinse the lentils in a sieve. Tip into the pot, pour in the stock, add the bay leaf and bring to the boil. Skim the foam that rises.
Rinsed lentils, stock, bay leafCook until the lentils collapse
Simmer over low heat with the lid ajar 18–20 minutes, stirring from the bottom every few minutes, because lentils like to catch. It is done when the grains have completely broken down and the soup has thickened like a cream. Too thick? Add water.
TipRed lentils are hulled and usually split: without the skin they cook faster than green or brown lentils and turn into purée by themselves. There is no need to soak them, just rinse.
Twenty minutes, stirring from the bottomSeason with lemon and serve
Remove the bay leaf, add the salt, pepper and lemon juice. Taste: without lemon the soup is dull, with it, it comes alive. Serve with a spoon of yogurt, parsley and bread. Keeps 3 days in the fridge; it thickens, so reheat with water. Freezes very well.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp natural yogurt · 4 pcs bread
Lemon at the end, yogurt, parsley
Before you start
With sausage
150 g sliced smoked sausage fried with the onion at the start: a more filling version, no longer vegetarian, popular with children.
With coconut milk
200 ml coconut milk replacing some of the stock, more curry and grated ginger with the onion: the soup drifts toward dal, with lime instead of lemon.
It caught on the bottom
Heat too high or stirring too rare. Lentils sink and scorch; low heat and a wooden spoon along the bottom every 3–4 minutes.
