Lentil, carrot and celery soup
healthy, aromatic and comforting soup
Servings 4
Calories 200kcal
Cost £7
Equipment
- 1 saucepan with a lid
- 1 immersion blender (or food processor)
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 medium-sized potato, chopped
- 1 medium-sized carrot, chopped
- 150 gram green lentils (you can substitute them with other lentils you have but make sure you adjust the cooking time accordingly)
- 1 tin tomatoes (plum or chopped tinned tomatoes. You can also add some fresh tomatoes)
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- 1.5 tsp paprika (sweet or smoked)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp ras el hanout (you can substitute it with 1 part cumin powder, 1/2 part coriander powder and 1/2 part ginger powder)
- 1 vegetable stock (dissolve it in 500ml boiling water)
- 1 lemon zest (optional)
- 1/2 lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
- Sift through lentils for stones or debris.
- Rinse in the cold water until the water runs clear.
- Soak in the cold water an hour before cooking.
- While the lentils are soaking, prepare vegetables: roughly chop onion, celery, potatoes and carrot.
- Once the lentils are soaked for an hour, then it's time to make the soup.
- Heat the oil in the saucepan, add chopped onions, and fry until the onion is soft.
- Add chopped celery and carrots, and fry for a minute or two. Add a splash of vegetable stock if the pan gets too dry.
- Add chopped garlic, and fry for a minute. Then add bay leaves.
- Add the rest of the spices: paprika, cumin powder and ras el hanout. Mix them well with other ingredients in the pan.
- Add chopped potatoes.
- Add tomatoes. If you're using tinned plum tomatoes, make sure you break them up in the pan using the back of a wooden spoon.
- Add vegetable stock. (see *note 1)
- Bring the soup to the boil. Then add lentils. Mix lentils well with other ingredients.
- Add salt and pepper and a bit more vegetable stock to make sure the liquid is slightly above all the ingredients in the pot.
- Turn the heat down and put the lid on. Let the soup cook for another 20 - 25 minutes
- Once the soup is nearly down, add 1 lemon zest and half of the lemon juice. (optional)
- Once the lentils are tender, turn off the heat and discard the bay leaves.
- Wait at least 10 minutes. Move one-third of the soup to another saucepan and blend until smooth. Add the puree back to the soup and mix them well. So the soup will taste not only creamy but with a bit of texture.
Video
Notes
*note 1: Don’t pour in all the vegetable stock in one go. Instead, add it until it’s slightly above all the ingredients in the pot. Hold back some liquid and use it to thin the soup if you feel it is too thick after blending.