Turkish Red Lentil Soup
Source of Recipe
My best friend, Lynn Migliozzi
Recipe Introduction
My notes are a little lengthy and the ingredient list is, too. But this is an EASY recipe and you probably have all of them in your pantry. Once, when Lynn and I met in Northern VA for a fast visit, we had dinner at a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant that neither one of us can remember the name or location of – we were too busy talking and laughing! But the amuse of the tiny little place was a delicious lentil soup. Lynn said that she made a similar one and would send me the recipe. She did, but I never made it until the Pandemic when we had tons of lentils in our emergency supplies. This soup was so easy to make and SO delicious. It is greater than the sum of its modest parts. Do not, under any circumstances, omit the lemon – it MAKES the soup! I was lucky to have Lynn on the other end of my smart phone. I was able to send her a video of the soup when it was finished cooking and she saw that it was too thick. After you blend it, it should still be soupy – not thick like refried beans (that’s what mine were like). I think that my mistake was that I let it reduce too much during the final simmer. It was easily fixed by adding more chicken stock and adjusting the seasoning. Maybe keep the lid on more. Mine took much longer than the 15-20 minutes that the recipe calls for – twice as long, at least, and might have needed even longer. I didn’t have red lentils, so I used brown. I don’t think that had anything to do with how long mine took to cook since the directions on the package also said 15-20 minutes.
List of Ingredients
FOR THE SOUP:
1 cup red lentils (or brown – see my note)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 heaping Tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
1/2 teaspoon thyme or oregano – I used oregano
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed, if desired
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (Turkish pul biber is great if you can get it) or cayenne – I omitted this, as usual, and let Mike add it at the table
6 cups water or chicken stock, or more, as needed – see note
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or more to taste, depends on the saltiness of your broth)
2 T lemon juice
FOR THE PAPRIKA OIL:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Recipe
Pick through your lentils for any foreign debris, rinse them 2 or 3 times, drain, and set aside.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, sauté the olive oil and the onion with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. Add the carrots and sauté for another 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir it around for around 1 minute. Now add the cumin, paprika, mint, thyme, caraway, black pepper, and red pepper and sauté for 10 seconds to bloom the spices. Immediately add the lentils, potatoes, broth, and salt. Bring the soup to a boil. After it has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover the pot halfway, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the lentils have fallen apart and the carrots and potatoes are completely cooked.
In the meantime, make the paprika oil by swirling together the olive oil, paprika, and red pepper in a small sauce pan over medium heat. The moment you see the paprika starting to bubble, remove the pan from the heat. It's done.
After the soup has cooked and the lentils are tender, blend the soup either in a blender or simply use a hand blender to reach the consistency you desire. Taste for seasoning, add the lemon juice and add more salt if necessary. Serve the soup with a drizzle of paprika oil, wedges of lemon, and extra mint and red pepper for everyone to customize to their taste.
Serves 6-8
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