Recipe: Spicy Carrot, Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup

 Good afternoon my cherubs.  Today I have for you a warming wintry recipe for what is fast becoming my go-to when I'm exceedingly poor/cold and sad/hungover and hungry (I eat this all the time).  This is very cheap to make, can be produced in vast quantities, and is damn tasty. Introducing... 

Spicy Carrot, Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup

Ingredients: 

- 5-6 medium carrots (around 350g), diced

- 1 onion, diced

- 1 leek, chopped 

- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 2 small sweet potatoes, diced

- 100g of red lentils

- 1-1.5 litres of vegetable stock

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 2 handfuls of coriander

- salt and pepper, to taste

- dried chilli flakes or piri piri seasoning

- dried coriander

- creme fraiche, to serve

Method

1)  I start by sticking on some music and getting to work chopping everything first... which takes a little while.  Put a large non-stick saucepan on the hob, and on a medium heat, fry the onions, crushed garlic and leeks in the olive oil until just beginning to soften.  

2)  Chuck in your carrots, sweet potatoes, and the dried coriander, salt and pepper and dried chilli flakes then stir like crazy, adding more olive oil if required.  I tend to use around 2 tsps of dried chilli flakes, for a medium-spicy soup, but use less or more if you want to adjust the spice of your soup.  

 3)  After cooking for 4-5 minutes, pour in your vegetable stock (just enough to cover all the veg, you can add more later if required), and turn up the heat so the soup is simmering.  Here, you can add in a handful of chopped or torn coriander and the lentils. 

4)  Stick a lid on the saucepan, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until everything is tender and soft.  Make sure you keep an eye on it, stirring every now and again and topping up with stock when it boils off.

5)  Once everything's been cooked, take the saucepan off the heat and prepare to blend.  You don't have to blend your soup if you prefer it chunky or don't have a blender... it's equally delicious.  

 

6)  I use the Breville Blend Active  blender, which is probably one of the best things I've bought - it's a really good (and much cheaper - only £19.99!) alternative to the if slightly more stylish Nutri Bullet.  You can also just use a hand blender, whatever floats your boat.  I tend to add in a bit more water before blending to avoid the baby food consistency you sometimes get with homemade soups.  Blend it in batches, and load into all the tupperware you can find - this tends to make around 5-6 portions of soup.  

7)  Leave to cool before popping in the fridge.  Or, eat immediately, serving with a spoonful of creme fraiche, salt, pepper, more chilli flakes if desired and a sprinkling of more fresh coriander.  Bon appetit!

So, there we have it.  A healthy, hearty, wholesome soup for these cold, cold days.  Enjoy!

Ruby x

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