Sorta-Turkish lentil soup*
Oct. 27th, 2010 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
figmentMost amounts are wildly estimated, as I made this up as I went along
2 T olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 C chopped parsley
1 green pepper, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
8 C water
3 C red lentils
1 t celery seed
2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
2 t dried mint
2-3 T (yes, tablespoons) Turkish crushed red pepper (some other kind of red pepper would do in a pinch; adjust for heat, this should be tangy and somewhat spicy but not nuclear)
4 t Better Than Bouillon no-chicken stock (or you could use another bouillon, or 4 C stock for half the water)
3 T lemon juice
1 T Worcestershire sauce (I used the vegetarian stuff with no anchovies)
Pour olive oil into the bottom of a big soup pan. Your biggest is probably the best one, unless you are used to cooking in industrial sizes.
Heat the olive oil on medium heat.
Add onion. Fry on medium for a little while, until onion is turning translucent.
Add carrots and garlic. Fry a little longer, until onion is beginning to brown and carrots are softening.
Add parsley and green pepper, celery seed, dried mint, salt and black pepper. Fry for another couple of minutes.
Add tomatoes. Listen to the sounds go from frying to simmering as the tomato juice leaks out of the tomatoes! Very exciting.
Add water. A bunch of water. I emptied the contents of my Brita pitcher into the soup pot, refilled the pitcher, and poured it in again.
Add the lentils. Pour some in, give it a stir, and decide what proportion of lentil to veggies looks good to you. Remember the lentils will expand a lot as they soak up water.
Bring to a boil. Add Turkish crushed red pepper and bouillon.
Reduce to simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add water if needed, and blend the soup. I use an immersion blender because they are so easy! I <3 my immersion blender.
Add lemon & Worcestershire sauce. Taste, adjust seasonings as needed. I tried to write this including the adjustments I made, but I may not have remembered right.
Yum!
I also threw in some leftover potatoes, but I don't think those changed the character of the soup much. There weren't that many of them.
*Very loosely based on a Turkish lentil soup recipe in Extending the Table.
2 T olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 C chopped parsley
1 green pepper, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
8 C water
3 C red lentils
1 t celery seed
2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
2 t dried mint
2-3 T (yes, tablespoons) Turkish crushed red pepper (some other kind of red pepper would do in a pinch; adjust for heat, this should be tangy and somewhat spicy but not nuclear)
4 t Better Than Bouillon no-chicken stock (or you could use another bouillon, or 4 C stock for half the water)
3 T lemon juice
1 T Worcestershire sauce (I used the vegetarian stuff with no anchovies)
Pour olive oil into the bottom of a big soup pan. Your biggest is probably the best one, unless you are used to cooking in industrial sizes.
Heat the olive oil on medium heat.
Add onion. Fry on medium for a little while, until onion is turning translucent.
Add carrots and garlic. Fry a little longer, until onion is beginning to brown and carrots are softening.
Add parsley and green pepper, celery seed, dried mint, salt and black pepper. Fry for another couple of minutes.
Add tomatoes. Listen to the sounds go from frying to simmering as the tomato juice leaks out of the tomatoes! Very exciting.
Add water. A bunch of water. I emptied the contents of my Brita pitcher into the soup pot, refilled the pitcher, and poured it in again.
Add the lentils. Pour some in, give it a stir, and decide what proportion of lentil to veggies looks good to you. Remember the lentils will expand a lot as they soak up water.
Bring to a boil. Add Turkish crushed red pepper and bouillon.
Reduce to simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add water if needed, and blend the soup. I use an immersion blender because they are so easy! I <3 my immersion blender.
Add lemon & Worcestershire sauce. Taste, adjust seasonings as needed. I tried to write this including the adjustments I made, but I may not have remembered right.
Yum!
I also threw in some leftover potatoes, but I don't think those changed the character of the soup much. There weren't that many of them.
*Very loosely based on a Turkish lentil soup recipe in Extending the Table.