Monday night dinners when I was growing up consisted of one of two meals. It was either spanakorizo (spinach with rice) with little feta/ ricotta triangles, or lentil soup with the little cheese triangles. Although I looked forward to the spanakorizo, I really didn't like the lentil soup.
Once I moved out of home, and was no longer relying on mum's meals, I thought my lentil days were over...until hubby asked for them one day...and I realised what I had been missing!
Beautifully nutrient dense, this hearty soup is on constant rotation throughout the year at our place and my youngest even requests it every week - she loves it! Cooked correctly it is thick and creamy (squashing potato cubes in soups is the best thing ever!) and is perfect to serve on its own or with little hand pies and a fresh salad.
A soup from my childhood, I hope you enjoy the recipe!
H xx
PS as always I'd love to see my recipes come to life so be sure to tag me and #mckrecipes on your socials or leave a comment below.
Serves: 6
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups green lentils
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 3 medium cloves garlic, finely sliced
- 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
- 4 fresh bay leaves (lightly folded to release the fragrance)
- 7 cups boiling water
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Balsamic vinegar, to serve
Instructions:
- Place the lentils in a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover the lentils by an inch or so. Bring to the boil and allow to boil for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In the meantime, boil the water in a kettle.
- Once the water has boiled, place the lentils back into the saucepan. Add the oil, vegetables and bay leaves and stir over a high heat until the onion and garlic become a little fragrant. Add the boiling water, salt and pepper and stir to mix it all in.
- Reduce the heat to medium and allow the soup to simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through. Note this could take longer than 30 minutes depending on the lentils you are using. At this point, squash as many potato cubes as possible with the back of a wooden spoon and allow the soup to simmer and thicken up for a further 5 minutes. If the soup still looks a little runny, crank up the heat and allow the soup to boil for 5 minutes, stirring often to ensure it doesn't catch on the bottom of the saucepan.
- To serve, ladle the soup into bowls, add a dash of balsamic vinegar and enjoy.
