Lentil soup

Red lentil soup with paprika butter: 30 minutes and no soaking. Red lentils break down on their own and thicken the soup without flour or a roux. The red butter, made with paprika and mint, adds colour and a light Turkish touch.

Ingredients

Method

1. Rinse the lentils

   Rinse 250 g of lentils in a fine sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Pick out any small stones.

2. Chop the vegetables

   Finely chop the onion, cut the carrots into 1 cm cubes and slice the garlic into thin slivers. Small cubes soften in the same time as the lentils.

3. Fry the base

   Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pot over medium heat and fry the onion and carrots for 4 minutes, until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic, tomato purée and cumin and stir for another 30 seconds.

4. Cook the lentils

   Add the lentils, the bay leaf and 1.4 litres of water. When it comes to the boil, turn the heat down, skim off the foam and simmer for 18 minutes, until the lentils break down and the soup thickens. Season with 1 tsp of salt.

5. Make the red butter

   Melt 40 g of butter in a small pan over low heat, then take it off the heat. Add 1 tbsp of paprika, ½ tsp of mint and the chilli flakes and stir for 10 seconds.

   Add the paprika off the heat: in very hot butter it burns in seconds and makes the soup bitter.

6. Season the soup

   Remove the bay leaf and squeeze the juice of ½ lemon into the pot. Taste and add more salt if needed.

7. Serve hot

   Ladle the soup into 4 deep bowls and pour a quarter of the red butter over each. Serve straight away, while the butter is still hot.

How to serve it

Serve with slices of bread toasted in a dry pan and pickled hot peppers on the side.

Did you know?

Lentils are one of the oldest crops people have grown, and they come from the Middle East. Red lentil soup is a staple of Turkish cooking.

Per serving (approximate): 400 kcal · protein 17 g · fat 16 g · carbohydrates 49 g