Red Lentil Soup

Name: Red Lentil Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Turkey and the Middle East
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 yellow onion, diced; 1 carrot, grated; 2 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tbsp tomato paste, or Turkish pepper paste; 2 tsp ground cumin; 250 g (1¼ cups) red lentils, rinsed until the water runs almost clear; 1¼ l (5¼ cups) vegetable stock, Vegetable Stock or store-bought; chicken stock also works, but the soup is then not vegetarian; 1 lemon, juiced, plus wedges to serve; fine sea salt and black pepper, about 6 g (1 tsp) salt; 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, or olive oil; 1 tsp sweet paprika or Aleppo pepper (pul biber); 1 tsp dried mint

Cumin-spiced lentils with a sizzling paprika-butter finish

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 15 min
Total: 40 min
Level: Easy

Red lentils cook to a smooth, golden purée in twenty minutes with no blender required, which makes this a pantry soup to know by heart. Inspired by Turkish mercimek çorbası, it gets its brightness from lemon and its character from butter sizzled with paprika and dried mint poured over at the table.

Ingredients

Soup

2 tbspolive oil
1yellow oniondiced
1carrotgrated
2 clovesgarlicchopped
1 tbsptomato pasteor Turkish pepper paste
2 tspground cumin
250 gred lentils (1¼ cups)rinsed until the water runs almost clear
1¼ lvegetable stock (5¼ cups)Vegetable Stock or store-bought; chicken stock also works, but the soup is then not vegetarian
1lemonjuiced, plus wedges to serve
fine sea salt and black pepperabout 6 g (1 tsp) salt

To finish

30 gunsalted butter (2 tbsp)or olive oil
1 tspsweet paprika or Aleppo pepper (pul biber)
1 tspdried mint

Diet: Vegetarian, Gluten-free
Allergens: milk, celery
Origin: Turkey and the Middle East

Method

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt until soft, 7–8 minutes. 8 min
Add the garlic, tomato paste and cumin and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. 1 min
Add the lentils and stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer partly covered, stirring now and then, until the lentils have completely broken down, 20–25 minutes. 22 min
Whisk hard for 30 seconds to make it smooth, or blend for a silkier finish. Add water if it's thicker than heavy cream.
Stir in half the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more lemon until it's bright.
Just before serving, melt the butter in a small pan until foaming. Off the heat, add the paprika and mint and swirl for 10 seconds. Drizzle over each bowl and serve with lemon wedges.

Why it works

Red lentils are split and skinless, so they cook quickly and their starch disperses into the liquid, creating a smooth purée almost on its own. Cumin and paprika are fat-soluble; blooming them in hot butter releases far more of their flavor than stirring them in dry. Acid lifts the earthy lentils so they don't taste muddy.

Common mistakes

Skipping the rinse: dusty starch gives a scummy foam and a dull taste.
Burning the paprika: take the butter off the heat before adding it, or it turns bitter in seconds.
Too little lemon: lentil soup needs more acid than you think.

Variations

Coconut-ginger: Add 1 tbsp grated ginger with the garlic, swap 400 ml of the stock for coconut milk, and finish with lime and cilantro instead of the butter.

Make ahead and storage

Keeps 5 days in the fridge and 3 months frozen; it thickens on standing, so loosen when reheating. Make the paprika butter fresh.

Notes

Vegan: use vegetable stock and finish with olive oil instead of butter.