Versatilenti Soup …. Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup
I’m a big fan of a hearty soup and this one I come back to time and time again.  It’s very versatile and great for tweaking in relation to any vegetables that might be left over in the fridge. Initially it started off as bacon and lentil and then I found a chilli languishing with the carrots.   Mainly because the supermarkets don’t sell single chillies and so with a little ginger and some mixed spice it became a spiced lentil soup.  Then with a little leftover chicken from the BBQ I added another tweak to make bbq’d chicken soup.  Mainly keep to the core and then add your own touches and enjoy playing with it.

The Core: Swaps/Optional:
  • 2 tablespoons of oil
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 2 sticks celery diced
  • 3 medium carrots, diced
  • 1 chili red or green, seeds removed and diced
  • 1 thumb of ginger, peeled, diced finely
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp bouillon powder
  • 1 tbsp mixed spice (ras el hanout or garam masala)
  • 100g red lentils
  • 100g puy lentils
  • 50g dried pearl barley
  • 1.5 litres of water from the kettle

 
  • Cooked chicken (add a couple of extra thighs to the BBQ!)  to add in at the end of this recipe
  • 180g bacon diced,  ditch the chicken and fry before adding the onions
  • Sweet potato, swap out a carrot or two
  • 1 tbsp mixed of mixed herbs, ditch the chili, ginger and spice
  • Just use red lentils, or brown, ditch the puy and barley.  Just keep to the rough dried weight of 250g
  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, soften the onion, celery and carrots with the chili and ginger if using – roughly 10-15 minutes
  2. Add the garlic, mixed spice or herbs, the bouillon and cook for a minute or so turning over so everything is coated.
  3. Add the lentils, pearl barley and 1.5 litres of water from the kettle
  4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until the lentils and barley are soft.
  5. Remove a 2 or 3 ladlefuls of the soup and blend on the side, before returning to the pan which add that lovely soup texture.
  6. Add the cooked, chopped chicken if using.

0 thoughts on “Versatilenti Soup …. Lentil Soup”

  2. I love recipes like yours – where we can add in whatever we need to use up!
    Even your base is variable – either ras el hanout or garam masala would vary the flavour profile quite differently. And you have various grains and lentils as well. I like this very much.

    Reply

    1. I’m forever tweaking depending on what’s in the fridge, or the spices left over. Thank you for reading.

      Reply

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