Description
An easy tasty red pepper and lentil soup for all the family to enjoy on cold winter evenings.
Ingredients
One Onion
3 Carrots.
One leek
One small celeriac.
One courgette.
One parsnip (a small swede or turnip are a good alternative if not available)
Two or three ripe salad tomatoes
Two red peppers
200g red lentils
A handful of fresh herbs – parsley, basil, and thyme are all good.
Tabasco sauce
Tap Water
Instructions
Place all the veg you want to use in the order in which you want to chop – any order is good, but start with garlic and onion and end with red peppers as the garlic needs to go in the pan first and the last thing in will be the red peppers!
Sizzle your chopped garlic and onion in a little Frylight in an large saucepan or stockpot
Chop your veg into small pieces and add the veg to the pan as you finish each piece. Keep the heat low and stir every few minutes to prevent sticking.
Put your tomatoes in a bowl and cover them in boiling water. Leave for about 2 minutes, drain the water, be careful not to burn your hands, and rip the skin off the tomatoes. Chop very small and add to the mix.
Rip the fresh herbs by hand (it keeps the flavour more than a chopping board and knife) and add to the pan.
Make about a litre of vegetable stock and pour over the vegetables. Stir well.
De-seed your peppers and cut them into bite-size chunks for easy cooking. Put them in the pan and keep stirring. Add soy sauce and Tabasco for an extra kick if you want to at this point.
Cook the red lentils in a separate saucepan. About 15 minutes in simmering boiling water should do the trick.
Blend the vegetable and stock mix until smooth, not the lentils though, keep those separate.
Drain the lentils and add them to the smooth vegetable mixture. Gently cook for a further couple of minutes
Season to taste with black pepper!
