Lentil Soup: Recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Lentil soup is such an ancient and popular dish that it is even mentioned in the Bible. And not just like that, in passing. Lentil stew is of key importance in the holy text. According to Genesis 25:29-34, Esau gave Jacob his birthright for a bowl of this soup. What kind of dish is this, because of which the ancients decided to make great sacrifices?

Lentils are an annual plant in the legume family. Her seeds are small, like peas, and slightly flat. Over the long centuries of cultivation of this plant, mankind has brought out many varieties of lentils. But all of them can be grouped into four main categories. The first is brown lentils. It is also called continental. Soups are mainly prepared from it. The red variety boils very quickly. Soups are made from it. Yellow lentils are ground into flour and made into bread. There is also a French variety, bred in the city of Puy and named after him. Dark green beans do not fall apart, keep their shape well and are used in cooking for salads. And finally, the smallestlentils. It is black, round, and no larger than an egg in size. Therefore, the variety is called “beluga”. But enough theory. Let's make lentil soup. You will find simple and delicious recipes in our article.

Harira

In the culinary processing of products, some nations have reached the heights of skill. Who does not know dishes such as Peking duck, Spanish jamon, French foie gras or Viennese pastries. And Moroccan cuisine is famous for its Harira lentil soup. Moreover, Muslims themselves (not only in the homeland of the dish, but also from other countries) eat it infrequently, but only during the Ramadan fast. The secret is simple: the soup is so hearty that you don’t feel hungry from sunrise to evening prayer. And at the same time, boiled lentils have only 111 calories. "Harira" is hearty also because it contains chickpeas.

A handful of chickpeas should be soaked the night before and then peeled. Pour four tomatoes with boiling water, remove the skin and grind in a blender along with the onion, three celery stalks with leaves, cilantro and parsley. Transfer this puree to the pan along with the chickpeas. Prepare a Moroccan lentil soup with meat (any, except pork). But there is also a vegetarian option. If you decide to put meat in the soup, you will need 200 grams for the indicated amount of other ingredients. Pour one and a half liters of water into the pan. Cook over low heat until the chickpeas are fully cooked. If the liquid boils away too much, add water. Put a handful of red lentilsand rice, a tablespoon of tomato paste, de-seeded and chopped sweet bell pepper (preferably orange), a generous pinch of turmeric and ground paprika. Cook after boiling for another five to ten minutes. Dilute a few tablespoons of flour with cold water and immediately pour it into the pan. Adjust the exact amount of "thickener" to your liking. There is a version of "Harira", where instead of flour, raw eggs, lightly beaten with a fork, are introduced into the soup.

Merjimek Chorbasy

In the Middle East and North Africa, lentil-based soups are so popular that they have become something of a hallmark of national cuisines, like Ukrainian borscht or Russian cabbage soup. Ancient recipes with the advent of new (overseas) products have acquired variations, and now it is difficult to figure out which one is authentic. But the Turkish red lentil soup called "Merjimek Chorbasy" was undoubtedly prepared during the time of the Ottoman sultans. Let's prepare a dish that the legendary Roksolana ate. And “Merjimek Chorbasy” is translated simply: “lentil soup.”

Peel the onion and carrot and chop finely. Melt one hundred grams of butter in a cauldron. We throw in the cooked vegetables and sauté for five minutes. We need 200 grams of red lentils, the same one that quickly boils soft. We wash it in several waters and also add it to the pot. Pour a liter of cold water, cover with a lid and cook over very low heat for a quarter of an hour after boiling. S alt the soup to taste, addseasonings: a large spoonful of dried mint, a small - red hot pepper. We cook for a minute more. Let the soup cool down and puree it in a blender. Serve with crackers, pouring a spoonful of lemon juice into a plate. Alternatively, you can cook such a soup of lentils with meat, using not water, but a cooled broth.

Ezo Gelin Chorbasi

The literal translation of the dish's name is Ezo's Bride's Soup. More than a century ago, a girl won the heart of her future mother-in-law by cooking this stew of red lentils and bulgur. And since then, this soup has been cooked by all Turkish girls in front of the bride. Such a kind of exam in culinary skills. Just in case (who knows what fate will decide?), we will also learn how to cook Turkish soup from red lentils and bulgur.

First we need to prepare the broth - this is an indispensable condition, the vegetarian "Ezo Gelin Chorbasi" simply does not exist. In boiling water without s alt and spices, put the beef meat on the bones, cook, regularly removing the foam, for about an hour and a half. Strain the finished broth through cheesecloth. We measure one and a half to two liters. We put it on fire again. In the pot in which the lentil soup will be cooked, put a piece of butter. Saute a finely chopped purple onion on it. In a glass, dilute a tablespoon of tomato paste with boiling broth. Pour this mixture over the onion. Cook for two to three minutes, then pour the remaining broth and s alt. Wash a glass of red lentils. If we use a different variety (for example, brown), it should be soaked before cooking. I put the lentils incauldron with onions and tomato paste. Next we send half a glass of bulgur. Mix thoroughly so that the beans and wheat groats do not stick to the bottom of the pot. We cook for ten minutes. Thick soup needs to be stirred frequently. We introduce spices: be sure to half a tablespoon of dried mint, optionally thyme, cumin, and other similar seasonings. Add more soup if needed. We make a very small fire so that the liquid in the saucepan barely gurgles. So cook for another half an hour, until the bulgur and lentils are ready. Let the dish brew under the lid for another 10 minutes. Pour into bowls. Sprinkle with coarse chili.

Vegetarian soup (Cypriot recipe)

Lentils, satisfying and suppressing the feeling of hunger for a long time, used to replace meat for the poor. And now vegetarians have taken note of it. Let's see how to make lean lentil soup. It is best to use the fiber-rich brown variety in this dish. A glass of lentils should be soaked overnight and rubbed between the palms in the morning. Then the husk will fall off and you will have yellowish grains. We wash the lentils and fill it with fresh cold water. How much liquid to take? Lean lentil soup can be very thick like a second. This is how the dish is eaten in Cyprus. In this case, you need to pour a liter of water and another glass. But if you want a thinner soup, adjust the amount as you see fit. Let's start adding vegetables. First, two celery stalks cut into pieces (about 70 grams), then slices of large carrots pre-sautéed in oil. When the lentils in the soup come to the stage of full readiness, put them in a pan3-4 tomatoes. We sauté them for a short time and throw them into the pan. S alt the soup and cook it for another ten minutes after boiling. And at the end add spices. In Cyprus, asafoetida is used, a strong-smelling substance extracted from the milky sap of the ferula plant. We can sprinkle the dish with a mixture of peppers, chopped garlic, grated with s alt and olive oil. Cook the soup for one more minute. Serve with sliced lemon. Each of the diners takes a slice and squeezes it into their plate.

Lentil soup with meatballs

This dish is hearty, very warming - great for winter. And it's very easy to cook it. First, right in the pan (but better in a cauldron), we sauté a finely chopped onion in butter or olive oil. Next to it we send a small carrot, grated or cut into semicircles. When the vegetables become ruddy, pour them with five tablespoons of soy sauce. If you are making lentil soup for kids, you can skip this step. We open a jar of tomatoes in our own juice and pour out all the contents, along with the liquid, into a cauldron. Add water - a liter or a half. We increase the fire. While the soup is cooking, make the meatballs. Finely three half an onion. We knead it with 200 grams of prepared minced meat and four tablespoons of breadcrumbs. If the mass is not sticky enough to roll the meatballs, add a couple of drops of soy sauce. Dip the meatballs into the boiling soup. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another ten minutes. We wash half a glass of red lentils. Add to the soup and continue to cook it for another quarter.hours. S alt and put four sprigs of thyme. Be sure to add half a teaspoon of sugar - it will balance the acidity of the tomatoes and emphasize the expressiveness of the beans and onions.

Soup puree

Only red lentils are suitable for this dish. Any other will not give such a smooth structure. You can cook this lentil soup with chicken, meat or just water. If you do not want to make a lean version of the dish, boil the broth first. Remove the meat from the bone, set aside. Strain the broth through cheesecloth. Heat vegetable oil in a cauldron. Put in it three peeled, but whole garlic cloves. Roast until a characteristic smell appears. Use a slotted spoon to catch the cloves, and put a finely chopped large onion in the garlic oil. Saute it until golden brown. Add shredded carrots. After two or three minutes, put a soup spoon of tomato paste, a generous pinch of cumin into the pot. Pour in 300 grams of red lentils. Stir until the beans are lightly coated with oil. Pour a liter of boiling broth (or, in a lean version, water). When the liquid starts bubbling again, reduce heat to low and simmer for about half an hour. Five minutes before cooking, lentil soup with chicken or other meat should be s alted and spices added to taste. Cool the contents of the pot and grind it in a blender. Serve sprinkled with red pepper and fresh cilantro.

French milk cream soup

Dish, if strictly adhere to the recipe,comes out very soft and airy. And it helps to stay slim, because at a low calorie content it is very satiating. How to cook such a dietary lentil soup? We wash two hundred and fifty grams of the yellow variety, pour it with cold water and cook until tender. Shortly before turning off the fire under the pan, s alt. For those half an hour, while the lentils are being prepared, you can make croutons - homemade croutons with the aroma of spices. Cut off the crust from half of the dried loaf, cut the crumb into cubes, fry in butter. Sprinkle with spices. We strain the lentils, but save the broth. Grind the beans in a blender. Return the puree to the saucepan and put on a small fire. Pour in a glass of hot milk. If the lentil soup is still very thick, add the broth. Heat well with a tablespoon of butter. S alt, add black ground pepper and saffron on the tip of a knife. Remove from heat and carefully beat in the raw egg yolk. Stir and serve.

Green lentil soup

Since the puy variety was bred in France, it has not ceased to be used in salads. But they also make soups out of it. This lentil is cooked for a long time, so the order of laying the products with “puy” is different. First, fry 250 grams of beef cut into pieces in vegetable oil, s alt it and flavor it with spices (paprika, coriander, black pepper). Add chopped onions and carrots, simmer in meat juice for about a quarter of an hour. We wash green lentils (120 grams), pour two literscold water, put on fire. After ten minutes, add two chopped potatoes. And in a frying pan with meat put a soup spoon of tomato paste. You can add a little water from a boiling kettle. Let's put it out for five minutes. Now transfer the contents of the pan to the pan with lentils and potatoes. Let's boil for a quarter of an hour. Green lentil soup is ready! The beans in it are not boiled soft and resemble peas. This dish should be served with chopped dill.

Replacing pea soup

Like all legumes, lentils pair perfectly with the taste of smoked meat. But, unlike peas and beans, it does not need to be soaked for a long time. Yes, and it cooks much faster. So a delicious and hearty lentil soup with smoked meats will be ready within an hour. Four hundred grams of brisket, salmon (but you can also sausages or "Hunting" sausages) pour three liters of water, boil after boiling for 20 minutes. Remove the bones, if any. Cut the smoked meat, return to the pan. Add 150 grams of washed brown lentils. After ten minutes, we will throw three potatoes and one carrot cut into small cubes into the pan. We put a frying pan on the fire, melt two tablespoons of butter. Saute chopped onion and bell pepper. When the paprika is soft, sprinkle the frying with Italian herbs and curry spices, transfer from the pan to the pan with lentil soup with smoked meats. Scald a large tomato, remove the skin from it, cut the flesh. Add it to the soup and boil for another three minutes. S alt the dish to taste, pepper it. Throughturn off the heat for a minute, cover the pan with a lid and let it brew for a quarter of an hour. Serve with chopped fresh herbs, sour cream and croutons.

The order of bookmarking products if cooking in a slow cooker

Above you read the recipes for lentil soups. Simple and tasty, such dishes can also be prepared in a slow cooker. First, we put vegetables in the bowl - onions, carrots, if the recipe requires it, potatoes. Pour vegetable oil and turn on the "Frying" mode. After seven minutes, add spices, chicken fillet or other meat, tomato paste. Add washed lentils. We mix. Fill with two liters of water. Turn on the "Soup" mode for 40 minutes.