Red Lentil Soup with Paprika Mint Oil

This Turkish-inspired soup from the cookbook 'Always Vegan' is quick to put together, has plenty of flavour and is filling and comforting. What more...

Ingredients

• 100 g floury potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
• 100 g carrots, scrubbed and diced
• 70 -80 g celery stalks or celeriac, roughly chopped (peeled if using celeriac)
• 100 g onions, chopped
• 1 Handvoll garlic, finely chopped
• 200 g red lentils, rinsed
• 1 EL tomato paste
• salt
• white pepper
• 2 EL olive oil
• 1 EL dried mint
• 1 TL sweet paprika
• 0.5 TL pul biber (or similar flavourful chilli flakes)
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• crusty bread

Steps

1. Preparation:
2. Put the prepared vegetables, the lentils and the tomato paste in a large pan (use one with a lid) with 1 litre of water.
3. Add 1 tsp salt, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally.
4. Use a hand-held blender to purée the soup. It should be smooth and creamy. If you prefer it a little thinner, add a dash of water, then bring to the boil again. Season with salt and white pepper.
5. In a very small saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mint, paprika, and pul biber and toast very briefly, stirring, until the oil starts to become fragrant. Remove from the heat immediately or the paprika will burn.
6. Serve the soup drizzled generously with the paprika-mint oil, with lemon wedges and crusty bread.