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Hearty Red Lentil Soup

by Jules Clancy from Five Ingredients, Ten Minutes

A hearty vegetarian soup recipe that comes to life in 10 minutes. Think red lentils, tomatoes, cumin and chilli flakes - topped with creamy natural yoghurt.

From the book

Introduction

There are few things more comforting than a big bowl of lentils or a warming bowl of soup. Combine the two and we’re talking comfort central. To keep this under 10 minutes, I’ve left the lentils a bit on the ‘al dente’ side. I quite like this chunky texture. If you’d prefer your soup to be more silky, cook the lentils a little longer and purée with a stick blender before serving.

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Ingredients

185g dried red lentils, rinsed
½-1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp ground cumin
400g can tomatoes, chopped
natural yoghurt, to serve

Method

Place lentils, chilli, cumin, tomatoes and 625ml water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.

Cover and boil for 9 minutes or until lentils are cooked to your liking.

Taste and season. Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt.

Variations:

Dairy-free: skip the yoghurt and serve with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Coconut cream will also work here, but will completely change the flavour profile – not necessarily a bad thing!

Different lentils: feel free to use other lentils; puy lentils are a favourite but brown lentils are also lovely. You’ll just need to simmer for longer: around 20 minutes.

Healthier: if you feel the need for some veg, add a handful of fresh or frozen peas or chopped broccoli with the lentils, or wilt in some baby spinach at the end.

Short on time? Replace the dried lentils with 2 x 400g cans of lentils and skip the water. Just bring it up to a simmer and it’s good to serve.

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