Lentil Soup

I have an almost Biblical love affair with lentils.  I consume it often.  In fact, whenever a recipe calls for minced beef, I use lentils as vegetarian substitute - with some success.

This lentil soup doesn't last long in our house, mostly because I keep 'tasting' it before we get a chance to eat it.

Great with garlic bread!

My  birthright   for  Lentils-soup!
Ingredients:

olive oil
3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp ras-el-hanout (from Moroccan shop, if you can find it)*
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped (don't skip the sweet potato - it really adds flavour)
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 can of lentils (roughly 400gr)
1 can of white cannelini beans (roughly 400gr)
1 can of chopped tomatoes (roughly 400gr)
about 1 litre of water, more or less, depending on how thick you like your soup to be
2 stock cubes

Image:  lentilsouprecipe.com

Method:

In a heavy casserole, fry the celery and onion. 
When it starts to brown, add the garlic and fry for about 5 minutes.
Add the canned lentils, beans and tomatoes.
Add the water, stock cubes and ras-el-hanout.
(I've noticed there isn't much of a taste difference if you add the spices earlier or not)
Add the sweet potato and potato cubes.

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
Blend half of the soup with a hand-held blender.
Season to taste and enjoy!

* if you can't find ras-el-hanout, you can always use coriander, cinnamon, cumin, chilli, turmeric and cardemom.  Anything to add to the flavour!



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