Lentil soup

cazspatch

Bought red lentils to use for the first time this week. They do not need to be soaked.

My questions

1) How do you use for soup?? Think i may have over done it? Using it in Carrot and Lentil

2) How do you cook. I Have boiled fr 10 mins alone then added to soup to simmer is that the correct way.

3) How much would you use in a spag bowl and Shepards pie for 2 people have a frozen bag of mince!

4) How would you cook to use in the above??

5) does it matter if they are green or red lentils

Thanks in advance. x

twinklefish

Lentil soup is easy to make and so yummy on cold days.

After a bit of trial and error, the way I do it is -

Chop a small onion. Heat a small amount of oil and a wee knob of butter in a non stick pan and soften the onion. Chop a couple of carrots and add these to the onion and fry for a couple of minutes. Rinse a mug of red lentils thoroughly. Pop the lentils into the pan and stir. Add 1.5 - 2 pints of stock (I use ham stock but you could go use vegetable. To me chicken really didn't do it) depening on how thick you like it.

Simmer for about half an hour and check the carrots and lentils. You want the carrot cooked and the lentils starting to fall apart. Keep simmering until they are like this. It never seems to take the same amount twice, think i might depend on the tide, alignment of the planets, day of the week or something like that Once I'm happy with the lentils, I give it all a whiz with my hand blender and season to taste.

I do use green lentils in a Delia Lentil and Bacon soup recipe which you can get from her website and I can recommend her thick green pea soup which is really easy to make too. My BF does a great layered 'hotpot' kinda dish that includes a layer of green lentils (plus chorizo, vegetables and mash!!!) which he simmers for about 10 mins before adding. Green lentils always seem to hold their shape a bit more than red.

Tx

Mellika

Green and Red are different.

I posted somehwere a Lentil stew that uses green lentils....

I am interested in this thread as I am about to buy red lentils (would have done yesterday but Tesco had run out :eek: )

cazspatch

well soup was yummy maybe a little too thick for my likeing so less lentils next time!!!

Thought of another question though!

Is the soup ok in the fridge for a few days? I have seen on packet i can freeze cooked lentils but this may be different when just in the fridge??

Thanks

twinklefish

Use more stock next time and yes, it will be ok in the fridge for a couple of days I usually portion up the rest and freeze it. It's easy to defrost in the pan if you forget to take it out. Just plonk it in a pan with a tight fitting lid and put on a low heat.

I also freeze soup which has green lentils with no problems.

Tx

alys_fowler

i do apologize in advance if it is already on here but does anyone have a fast easy recipe for lentil soup please, am wanting to use up lots i have in my stockcupboard

Fruball

I use

4/5 carrots
a sweet potato if i have one
1 or 2 onions depending on size
ham stock cubes
about a 2 mugs lentils
generous knob butter
4/5 bay leaves
squirt or two of tom puree (not needed but nice)
bouquet garni (more recently Mr T Value mixed herbs!)
LOTS of black pepper

Fry off the onion, add everything else and simmer for about 45 mins, blend, done

Pink.

Hi alys,

This is how I make mine:

Ingredients:
Stock made from gammon or ham hock, leftover gammon, red lentils, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, pepper, parsley.

-Strain the stock
-Add all ingredients to the pan, except for the gammon. Simmer gently until all the veg are cooked and the lentils 'disolved'.
-Once cooked, skim off any excess fat. Season with pepper and finely chopped parsley. Add salt if required. It can be left chunky or use a stick blender to make a smooth soup if preferred. Chop in leftover gammon and add just before serving. Pics of how I make it here

There are lots more recipes on this thread:

Lentil soup

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the replies together.

Pink

Nottoobadyet

I use:

Veg in fridge (any sad looking carrots, onion, celery, pots, etc)
Broth (usually veg broth from powder)
curry powder
Green lentils

Soften veg in a bit of oil for about 5-10 minutes. Add curry powder to taste and the lentils. Add broth and simmer untill lentils are cooked. You may want to add some more broth at the end to replace whats been soaked up. If you are as poor as I am sometimes , you can add some of those cheapo 3 p noodles from the super markets around the end which make it very filling. I eat it chunky but I suppose you could blend it as well to make a smoother soup.

Stephen_Leak

Here's mine ...

LENTIL SOUP

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

½ a carrot
1 tomato
1 onion
1 tablespoon of oil
125g of red or yellow split lentils
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml of water
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Cut the top off the carrot, peel it and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the tomato and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the onion and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces.

Put the oil into a large saucepan on a medium heat. Add the onion. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes until it is golden brown. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Add the carrot, lentils and tomato, stock cube and water. Stir thoroughly.

Bring to the boil for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering). Continue to cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the lentils are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

Season with the pepper.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Add ½ a tablespoon of lemon juice.

You can use green lentils, but they take much longer to cook.

PS. You can also use lentils to make Masoor or Toor Dal, red or yellow lentil curry. Recipe available on request, if required.