What Baba Cooked

There’s something really unfair being the only person in the house who loves lentils. But every now and then, usually on those rare occasions when it’s cold outside and I have a spare hour or so, I’ll get a pot of my lentil vegetable soup on to cook, and let’s just say I might be the only lentil lover but I’m definitely not the only person drawn in by how amazing this smells while it bubbles away…

This recipe also differs from all my other ones in that it’s not designed to feed an army, but of course any soup is easily multiplied with almost no extra effort. The quantioties below will easily feed two adults with enough for lunch the next day, or a second portion.

What you need:

• one small brown onion, finely diced
• roughly a third of the white park of a leek, finely diced
• one celery stalk, diced
• one large carrot, peeled and diced
• one large potato, peeled and diced
• butternut pumpkin, about 1 cup, peeled and diced
• about 3cm ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1.5 cups dried lentils
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• one bunch of English spinach, washed and chopped including the stems
• olive oil for sauteeing, salt and pepper

What to do:

• Start by heating a little olive oil in a saucepan, and gently fry the onion, leek, celery, carot, and potato. When it starts to soften add the ginger and sweat it for about. aminute or two.
• Add the turmeric and tomato paste, stir through and cook for a couple of minutes, then add the pumkin, lentils, and stock. Lower all the way down and let it very gently simmer for about twenty minutes.
• Check for seasoning, adjust if needed, and add the spinach. Cook for another ten minutes or so, and serve while piping hot. Add a dollop of pesto on top if you like, and some warm crusty bread is absolutely perfect.