Winter Lentil Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Tip all the ingredients into a large pan. Pour over 1½ litres boiling water, then stir well.
• Cover and leave to simmer for 30 mins until the vegetables and lentils are tender.
• Ladle into bowls and eat straightaway, or if you like a really thick texture, blitz a third of the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor.

Steps:

• Slice each leek in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons, about 2 cups. Place in a large bowl of cold water and swish to remove any grit. Drain and pat dry. Remove the stems from the kale. Stack the leaves on top of one another and slice them crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips; you'll need 3 cups. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, breaking them up with a spoon, for 5 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Stir in the kale, sweet potatoes, lentils, thyme, salt, pepper, and basil (if using). Simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Spoon into individual bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan (if using). TIP: Basic brown lentils retain their shape better during cooking than pricier red and yellow lentils, so they're terrific for soups. You can substitute green lentils, which taste slightly peppery. TO FREEZE: Omit the Parmesan. Let the soup cool, then ladle into large resealable bags, filling each one halfway. Store for up to 3 months. TO REHEAT: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or thaw partially in the microwave. Warm in a covered saucepan over medium heat for 20 minutes. Ladle into individual bowls and sprinkle with the Parmesan (if using).

Steps:

• Place the lentils into a stockpot or a Dutch oven and add water to twice the depth of the lentils. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse lentils; return them to the pot.
• Add onion, celery, cabbage, tomatoes, chicken broth, carrots and garlic to the pot and season with salt, pepper, sugar, basil, thyme and curry. Cook, simmering for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until desired tenderness is achieved.

Steps:

• Put 1 ½ cups of orange lentils in pot. Add approximately 4 cups of water, bring to a boil and skim out "white foam" as you see it. Cover and turn heat to low. Turn off when lentils are tender, if there is water still don't worry about it, its better this way.
• In a large stock pot, add a few pats of butter and oil.
• Add chopped onion, garlic, red bell pepper and garlic, sauté until soft and a bit brown, not too much.
• Add in shredded carrots and stir around for 5 minutes.
• Add two tablespoons of tomato paste, stir until all coated. You should have like a mushy ball, don't worry this is right.
• Your lentils have cooled, add to blender, add in sautéed onion garlic mixture on top.
• Add a bit of water, like 1 cup and puree.
• Add the pureed soup back into same pot where you sautéed the onions.
• Add salt, pepper to taste.
• Add chicken bouillon cube.
• Add a dash of turmeric, 2 tablespoons of cumin, and a dash of paprika.
• Bring to a boil, then turn to real low and simmer 30-45 minutes.
• If consistency is too thick, add water or chicken stock.
• The last step is to stir in one tablespoon of heavy cream before serving.
• FOR GARNISH:.
• Rip the two white pitas into bite size pieces.
• Heat oil in wok, deep fry the pita pieces and drain.
• Sprinkle with salt and cumin.
• Spoon soup in to serving dishes, you may drizzle a touch, very, very little heavy cream and a pat of fresh butter and a few slices of sautéed red bell pepper if you're using for presentation then add pita chips to warm soup on top.
• Arrange extra pita chips around each soup bowl on plate for presentation. ENJOY!
• *** You can make this the same way, by adding meat. Take a thin sliced steak with bone, brown in butter until cooked. De-bone the steak. Chop meat into tiny, tiny pieces, add to soup after you pureed and put into pot. Add the bone to the soup to cook in the flavor and remove bone before serving. If using this method, you may want to cook soup a bit longer to get meatier flavor, instead of 30-45 minutes, put on real low for one hour , 30 minutes. ***.

Steps:

• Slice each leek in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 4 sections.
• Chop leeks into small pieces.
• Place chopped leeks into a bowl of cold water and swish around to remove any grit or soil.
• Drain well through a sieve.
• Remove stems from kale and discard.
• Stack leaves on top of one another and slice crosswise into 1/2 inch wide strips; set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, heat oil.
• Add leeks and cook for 3 minutes.
• Crush tomatoes and add to the saucepan and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add vegetable broth and water and bring to boil.
• Stir in kale strips, barley, carrot slices, sweet potato cubes, brown and green lentils, thyme, salt, pepper and basil.
• Simmer until barley and lentils are tender, about 30 minutes.
• Adjust seasonings to taste.
• Spoon into individual soup bowls and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
• This soup freezes well in zip-lok bags, or plastic containers. Omit the parmesan cheese if freezing.