Spiced Vegetable Soup With Lentils And Roasted Chilli Recipes

SPICED VEGETABLE SOUP WITH LENTILS AND ROASTED CHILLI

Steps:

• Start by roasting 2 of the chillies. If you have a gas hob, put a wire rack over the flames and roast the chillies on top until blistered and black. If not, char them under a very hot grill. Keep turning the chillies so they colour evenly. This should take about 5 minutes. Put in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to cool.
• While the chillies are roasting, start the soup. Gently heat 2 tbsp oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions for about 10 minutes until light golden brown. Remove half and set aside. Cook the onions left in the pan for 5 minutes more or until deep golden brown and crisp. (These are for sprinkling over at the end.) Remove from the pan and reserve.
• Pour the remaining tablespoon of oil into the pan and add the bay leaves and cumin seeds. Put the softened onions back in (that's the first set you took out of the pan), then add the garam masala, carrots, celery, garlic and lentils. Peel the charred skin off the roasted chillies, roughly chop (with or without the seeds - including them will make the soup more spicy), then add to the pan. Stir well and cook for 5 minutes before adding the hot stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes or until the carrots and lentils have softened.
• Remove from the heat, take out the bay leaves, then whizz briefly using a stick blender - I like the soup to have some texture.
• Put it back on the heat and add the broccoli. After 2 minutes, stir in the spinach and turn off the heat. Add most of the lemon juice, then taste and adjust the seasoning. A recipe from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-From-Indian-Family-Kitchen/dp/1845339339 >Secrets from My Indian Family Kitchen by Anjali Pathak (£12.99; Mitchell Beazley)

ROASTED PEPPER AND LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heating element in your oven and preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Arrange red bell pepper halves, yellow bell pepper halves, and orange bell pepper halves onto prepared baking sheet with cut sides down.
• Roast peppers under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 5 to 8 minutes. Place the blackened peppers into a bowl and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Steam as they cool until the skin has loosened completely, about 20 minutes. Remove and discard skins. Cut peppers into small dice.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir onion and carrot in hot oil until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, tarragon, thyme, and paprika; continue to cook and stir until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Stir roasted peppers, tomatoes, water, and hot sauce into the peppers mixture, place a cover on the pot, and cook until the tomatoes soften, about 5 minutes.
• Pour vegetable broth into the pot; add lentils, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil, cover the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Pour soup into a blender or food processor no more than half full. Cover and hold lid down; pulse several time to get the soup to be only slightly chunky. Repeat processing until all soup has been blended.

SPICED LENTIL AND ROASTED VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Cut tomatoes in half, peel and halve onions, halve peppers and deseed and take off stalk.
• Place above into roasting tray and place slices of garlic onto each piece of vegetable, sprinkle with olive and salt.
• Roast in medium oven for 30 - 40 mins until vegetables are slightly browned and tomatoes are very soft.
• Meanwhile sweat diced onion and celery in butter in a heavy pan for 5 minutes.
• Add nigella seeds, chilli pepper and cardamon, stir well and add chicken stock, then add lentils.
• Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered.
• When roasted vegetables are ready add contents of the roasting pan with juices to the soup pan and stir well.
• Simmer for 20 mins then season to taste with fresh black pepper and salt.
• Blend with a stick blender or in a processor, soup should retain a rough consistency but not big lumps.Add more water if necessary and reheat.
• Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil on top.

SPICY LENTIL VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Cut the peppers in half from top to bottom; remove the stem, seeds, and ribs, then place the peppers cut-side-down onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until limp, 30 to 40 minutes. Turn the peppers over halfway through cooking. Once ready, place the peppers into a bowl, and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 20 minutes. Once cool, remove the skins and discard. Chop the peppers
• Meanwhile, bring the water and lentils to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain, rinse, and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the carrot, onion, and broccoli; cook and stir until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Pour in some of the vegetable broth, cover, and steam the vegetables until tender. Pour in the remaining vegetable broth and chopped peppers; season with the red pepper flakes, ginger, black pepper, thyme, and sage. Simmer until the flavors come together and the vegetables are very tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Add water if needed to maintain your desired consistency. Stir in the cooked lentils until hot.
• If desired, pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.

LENTIL SOUP WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange first 5 ingredients on large nonstick baking sheet. Drizzle with oil. Roast vegetables 20 minutes. Turn vegetables over and roast until tender and brown around edges, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes longer. Cool slightly (do not clean baking sheet).
• Scoop eggplant pulp from peel into processor; discard peel. Add onion and garlic to processor; purée until smooth. Transfer eggplant mixture to large saucepan. Coarsely chop tomatoes and bell pepper; combine in small bowl.
• Add 1 cup water to baking sheet; stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add to saucepan with eggplant mixture. Add 4 cups water, lentils and cumin and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes. Mix in all but 1/4 cup tomato and bell pepper mixture. Simmer uncovered until lentils are very tender, thinning with more water if soup is too thick, about 10 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.
• Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle large spoonful of yogurt over each. Top with remaining 1/4 cup tomato and bell pepper mixture and serve.