Turkish Carrot and Lentil Soup
The bulghur and lentils add some body and protein to this smokey, comforting soup. Add a cautious pinch or two of cayenne at the end; it can be potent stuff.
This recipe is from a Riverford soup bag.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 red peppers
- 400g carrots
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 40g red lentils
- 20g bulghur wheat
- 20g flaked almonds
- 1 lemon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- fresh mint
Method
- Peel and slice the onion. Deseed and slice the peppers. Peel and roughly chop the carrots. Warm 2 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan and gently fry them together for 10 minutes, until starting to soften.
- Meanwhile, peel and chop the garlic.
- Add the garlic, bay, cumin, lentils and bulghur to the pan and cook for a futher 2 minutes before adding 800ml of water. Bring to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Cook gently for 25 minutes, until everything is cooked and softened.
- While the soup cooks, lightly toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, until golden.
- When ready, remove the bay leaf and blend until completely smooth. Thin with a little more water is it seems thick. Taste and tweak the seasoning with salt, pepper, a squeeze or 2 of lemon and a cautious pinch of cayenne, to your liking.
- Serve and garnish with the toasted almonds and some freshly chopped mint leaves.