Red lentil soup

Bright, light, aromatic and quick to prepare. All of this is the red lentil soup of this recipe.

Ingredients (for a 2.5 l soup pot):

Vegetable or meat broth (or water) – 2l.
Red lentils – 400 gr.
Onions – 1 pc.
Carrots – 1 pc.
Tomato paste – 2 tbsp.
Garlic – 2 cloves
Ground paprika – 1-2 tsp
Ground zira – 1 tsp
Chili – pinch (optional)
Wheat flour – 1 tbsp
Vegetable oil (or butter)
Salt
Croutons (french baguette or ciabatta)

Cooking process

This soup can be cooked in water, or vegetable or meat broth. It all depends on your preference: whether you want a light vegetarian soup or a richer one with a meaty flavor.

I often use pre-cooked and frozen broth. I cool the finished broth and pour it into silicone molds. If necessary, it is enough to take the right amount of portioned frozen broth. It is very convenient and time-saving.

1 Broth (or water) bring to a boil. Put the well-washed red lentils in a pot. Cook for 15 minutes.

2 Dice the onion and coarsely grate the carrots.Put the onion in a preheated pan with oil. Fry it for a few minutes. Add grated carrots to the onion. Stir and fry over medium heat until soft.

Add to the pan tomato paste, 2 ladle broth and ground paprika. Mix well and simmer for 5-7 minutes. At the end, stirring, gradually add flour.

Shift the contents of the pan into the pot to the lentils. Add ground cumin and chili pepper (optional). Cook for a few minutes. Add garlic squeezed through a press. Salt. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Ready soup transform into puree(creamy) soup using a blender.

3 This red lentil soup goes well with croutons. I prefer to cook the croutons myself.

Cut the bread into 1 * 1 cm cubes. Fry them in vegetable oil until light golden brown. Sprinkle the finished croutons with ground paprika.