Lightly spiced tomato and red lentil soup
Ingredients
Serves: 4
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
175g split red lentils
1.2 litres vegetable stock
400g can plum tomatoes
2 tsp tomato purée
1 bay leaf
Method
Prep: 20min › Cook:40 min › Ready in: 1hr
- Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat for 7–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften. Stir in the celery and carrot and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, cumin and coriander and cook for a further minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the lentils, stock, tomatoes with their juice, tomato purée and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, then half-cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 25–30 minutes until the lentils and vegetables are very soft.
- Meanwhile, stir the coriander into the yoghurt for the garnish.
- Remove the bay leaf from the soup. Blend the soup in the pan using a hand-held blender, or tip into a blender or food processor, process until smooth, then return the soup to the pan. Check the consistency; it will be fairly thick, so if you prefer it thinner, dilute with a little more stock. Season to taste, then reheat until just bubbling. Serve drizzled with some of the coriander yoghurt and sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper.
Serve and enjoy!
