spicy tomato & lentil soup

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Spicy tomato and lentil soup, warming on a cold day and the perfect way to get more vegetables into our diet, working towards our 5-a-day!

My family all love making soup, consequently we are prolific soup makers. I was taught me how to make a great bowl of soup by my parents. Soup was a staple part of my diet growing up. We had a huge vegetable garden and as a result we ate fresh seasonal produce, hence lots of soup. The smell of Scotch Broth bubbling on the stove-top evokes memories of my Dad cooking on a Saturday night for Sunday’s lunch.

Hence to this day I continue to make lots of soup on a weekly basis. After all is there a better way to load in extra vegetables for our 5-a-day? Given the choice for lunch, more often than not I have a pan of soup at the ready. Furthermore, soup is the perfect food to serve on a night where I’m juggling dinner children’s activities. It’s always homemade as I can’t abide tinned soup.

My youngest daughter is challenging to cook for (I’m putting this very politely). She loves lentil soup, there was a time when she would only eat soup if it was orange. I’m glad she settled on this colour as it’s surprising just how much soup you can make that has a good orange hue to it! However, we were all getting a bit fed up with basic lentil so I decided to spice things up a bit.

This soup is a basic tomato and lentil soup, however I’ve added some lovely spice to boost the taste. I’ve blitzed the soup so that the tomato isn’t evident as I wanted everyone eating! A creamy element can be added to the soup therefore softening the spice. Simply stir through a spoon of yogurt before serving, alternatively use coconut milk if following a Vegan diet.

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Soup is a great way of getting more vegetables into our diet. If you like this recipe then why not try some of our other Vegan soup recipes our Spicy Pumpkin Soup, our Leek & Barley Broth or our Simple Curried Chickpea & Vegetable Soup.

spicy tomato & lentil soup

A creamy tomato and lentil soup with a good punch of spice, perfect for crisp autumn days when the weather is just that bit chilly outside.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Soup

Cuisine: British

Keyword: Simple, vegan, vegetarian

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 183kcal

Author: Lesley Garden

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion - diced
• 2 carrots - diced
• 2 sticks celery - diced
• 3 cloves garlic - crushed
• 5 cm root ginger - grated
• 2 red chillies - de-seeded and chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 400 g tin plum tomatoes
• 150 g red lentils - washed and drained
• 1 ltr vegetable stock
• salt & pepper - to season

Instructions

• Heat the sunflower oil in a large soup pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute gently for 5 minutes taking care to soften but not brown the vegetables.
• Add the garlic, ginger and chilli to the pan and continue to saute gently for a further 2-3 minutes.
• Add the dry spices to the pan and stir well to combine. Cook for 1 minute until the spices start to release their aroma.
• After a good rinse under cold water, add the lentils and the tinned tomatoes to the pan along with the vegetable stock. Bring the soup to the boil before turning down to a simmer and covering with a lid. Stir the soup from time to time to avoid it sticking. The soup should cook for 40 minutes or until the lentils have softened.
• Once cooked, blitz the soup with a stick blender. Season to taste and serve when ready.

Notes

If you wish to add a creamy element to this soup, you can stir through either a spoon of natural yogurt or if following a vegan or dairy-free diet, a spoon of coconut milk, just before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 183kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 109mg | Potassium: 616mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3865IU | Vitamin C: 31.8mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 3.8mg

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