Spiced Red Lentil and Lemon Soup

Name: Spiced Red Lentil and Lemon Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 2 onions, chopped; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 1/2 tsp chilli flakes; 300 g red split lentils, rinsed until the water runs clear; 1.2 litres vegetable stock; 1 lemon, juiced, plus more to serve; salt and black pepper; 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 handful coriander, chopped; flatbread

The one to make when there is nothing in the house. Red lentils, an onion, a lemon and whatever spice you have. It costs almost nothing and tastes as though it took a lot longer.

Prep 10 min
Cook 30 min
Total 40 min
Serves 4
Vegan

A bowl of thick golden-orange lentil soup with a swirl of paprika oil, chopped coriander and a half lemon beside it.

Method

Step 1. Rinse the lentils properly. Two or three changes of water, until it stops running cloudy — this is what keeps the soup from tasting muddy.
Step 2. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onions for 10 minutes over a medium heat, until soft and starting to colour at the edges.
Step 3. Add the garlic and all the ground spices. Stir for 1 minute, until they smell toasted. Ground spices burn in seconds, so keep the spoon moving.
Step 4. Add the lentils and the stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing catches on the bottom. The lentils should collapse completely.
Step 5. Blend about half the soup and stir it back in, or just beat the pan hard with a whisk. You want it thick and mostly smooth with some texture left.
Step 6. Add the lemon juice and season. Lentils are extremely dull without enough salt and acid — keep tasting and adding until it stops being flat and starts being good.
Step 7. For the spiced oil, warm the oil in a small pan with the cumin seeds until they sizzle and pop, about 40 seconds. Off the heat, stir in the paprika.
Step 8. Ladle out the soup, spoon the spiced oil over each bowl, scatter with coriander, and serve with flatbread and another wedge of lemon.

Notes from the kitchen

The lemon at the end is not a garnish. Without it this is beige and heavy; with it, it lifts completely.
Thin it with hot water rather than more stock if it is too thick — the stock salt concentrates as it cooks.
It freezes perfectly for three months. Freeze without the spiced oil and make that fresh.

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Method

Notes from the kitchen

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