A hot creamy bowl of lentil soup with crispy fried croutons is all what you need to keep you warm in this weather!
In the middle of all the Christmas posts that will be coming your way; I had to stop & share with you this recipe today!
I grew up in a house where soup was a staple on our lunch table whether it’s winter or summer! I can have soup on a crazy hot day or a cold freezing one; for us it’s just a dish served anytime of the year.
But when I got married, my husband thought I am NUTS when I served him a steaming bowl of soup in July!! Since that day, I became like most “normal” people & started to restrict soups to winter; we were only 2 in the house so I won’t cook a whole batch of soup for myself!
To be honest, lentil soup is one of those soups that shout out winter probably because lentils are on the top list of warming food.
One sip from that bowl & you feel the warmth down you stomach!
It’s a full meal; sometimes we serve lentil soup only for lunch or dinner! It’s full of vegetables, protein and when served with toasted/fried bread, you have got your carbohydrates covered as well.
I love those dishes where you throw everything together in one pot & in no time, your meal is ready! Here comes my lentil soup!!
Cook a big batch & keep it in the fridge for a couple of days to have your “source of warmth” ready whenever you freeze inside out.
LENTIL SOUP WITH FRIED CROUTONS
Ingredients:
- 3 cups red lentil washed and drained
- 330 gm onion roughly chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
- 340 gm carrots peeled & roughly chopped
- 6 large garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 10 cups chicken or vegetable stock*
- 2 tbsp butter cubed
- 2 tsp cumin (not heaped)
- salt & pepper
- To serve: fried pita (shami) croutons
Directions
- Place all your ingredients except the butter & cumin in a large pot.
- Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to medium/low & let simmer – not fully covered – for about 30-40 minutes or until the carrots become very fork tender.
- Turn off the heat; with an immersion blender or in a regular blender, blend the soup until smooth.
- Return the pot back to the stove on low heat.
- In a small pan, over medium heat, place the butter & cumin. Stir until the butter melts & the mixture is fragrant; about 20-30 seconds, not too long so as not to burn the cumin.
- Pour the butter/cumin mixture over the soup & stir well.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
- Serve hot with fried pita croutons (shami bread) on top.
Notes:
- In case you don’t have stock, you can cook it with water only & it will still taste delicious or you can use 10 cups of water & 1 stock cube.
- For a lighter option, instead of frying the croutons, you can toss them with 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil & roast in the oven at 200C tossing the croutons half way through to make sure it roasts equally.
kitchenkeys.net 