Creamy lentil soup is very filling and delicious that can be served for lunch or dinner. Try it with crumbled crispy bacon or fried onions as a garnish. Some home cooks add vegetable broth and half and half to the soup for extra flavoring. Adjust this basic recipe to your liking. It is easy to prepare with all ingredients going into one pot and cooking to perfection. 🙂
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds red or brown lentils
- 2 chopped large carrots or a bunch of small ones
- 5 stalks celery
- 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon salt (to taste)
- Black and cayenne pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Boiling water to cover the lentils while cooking
- Crispy bacon or fried onion as topping (optional)
Method:
- Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium high.
- Add the chopped onion, celery, carrots,and potato. Saute for a couple of minutes.
- Pick through the lentils to get rid of any stones and wash thoroughly.
- Add the lentils to the sauteed vegetables and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add enough hot water to cover the lentils and vegetables and bring to a rapid boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to simmer.
- Keep watching the soup and add more hot water if needed.
- Cook until the lentils are tender.
- Take soup off the heat and transfer to a glass bowl.
- With a food processor or a hand held blender, process the soup until creamy.
- Return the soup to the pot, add salt, cumin and peppers to taste.
- Cook soup until hot.
- Sprinkle crispy bacon, fried onions, a dollop of sour cream over the soup or simply some extra virgin olive oil.
- Serve with crispy pita bread or slices of French baguette and enjoy. 🙂
Enjoy 🙂