Carrot and lentil soup recipe

Lightly spiced carrot and lentil soup

Posted 2020-12-30

Time

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

• 2 tsp fennel seeds (optional, from Bazaar recipe)
• 500g carrots, scrubbed and cut into chunks
• 200g red lentils
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 50g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 700 mL vegetable stock
• 1 L boiling water
• Juice of half a lemon

To serve:
- Coriander (optional)
- Labneh or thick Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Chilli flakes (pul biber)

Method

1. Toast the fennel seeds in a large, dry saucepan over a medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Drizzle the fennel seeds in a little vegetable oil or ghee (or just add to pan).
3. Add the ginger and onion.
4. Sauté until the onion begins to soften, without letting it brown.
5. Add the carrot to the pan and stir fry until the edges begin to soften.
6. Add the garlic, cumin, turmeric and a generous amount of salt and pepper to the saucepan and mix well.
7. Pour in the boiling water and stock and adjust the heat to bring the mixture to a simmer.
8. Simmer gently, without a lid, for 45 minutes.
9. Allow to cool slightly, then blitz the mixture using a handheld blender or transfer to a food processor or blender.
10. Return the soup to the pan and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
11. Stir in the lemon juice.
12. Set the pan over a medium heat and stir in the red lentils.
13. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. If the soup seems too thick, blitz half the mixture in a blender.

To serve:
1. Ladle out the soup.
2. Dollop 1 tbsp of labneh/yoghurt into each bowl.
3. Drizzle 1 tsp of sesame oil over the top.
4. Finish with a sprinkling of chilli flakes

Source

• BBC Good Food - Spiced carrot & lentil soup
• Canadian Living - Slow cooker ginger carrot and lentil soup
• Bazaar by Sabrina Ghayour

Verdict

Tastes great - I used less water than the recipe and it ended up too thick - what a surprise! Easy to fix though.