A deeply-flavorful, comforting Lentil Soup that comes together quickly and easily using pantry and fridge staples, and makes plenty to share or freeze.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword Lentils, Soup
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour15 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour25 minutesminutes
Servings 4
Author Elizabeth at thewildolive.org
Ingredients
1/4cupolive oil
3large onionschopped
1large shallotminced
3clovesgarliccrushed
4stalks celerydiced
4-5carrotsdiced
1Tbsptomato paste
1Tbspcoriander
1tsp.cumin
1generous tsp. mushroom base
3Tbspchicken base
1lb.French or brown lentils
3qts water
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice or plain white vinegar to taste
Instructions
In a large Dutch oven or soup pot (at least 7 qt), sauté onions in olive oil over med-low heat until they just start to soften; push onions to the sides of the pan to clear a space in the middle.
Add celery (do NOT mix with onion) and saute until celery starts to soften. Mix celery in with onions and push all to the sides to clear another empty space in the middle of the pan.
Add carrots (do NOT mix with onions and celery) and saute till a little fond starts to develop on the bottom of the pan.
Add the shallots, stir all the veggies together and continue to saute until veggies start to take on a tiny bit of color. You are not looking to brown the veggies, just get a bit of fond going on the bottom of the pan.
Add the garlic and saute 2 more minutes. Do not let the garlic brown at all!
Make a bare spot in the middle of the pan to cook the tomato paste 1 minute.
Sprinkle cumin and coriander over veggies and stir a minute or two to bloom the spices.
Add the broth bases and stir throughout.
Rinse lentils and add to the veggies, stirring to combine. Add 2 ½ quarts of water. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat, cover and then simmer for 45 mins, stirring every 15 mins. Tip: If lentils take too long to soften, (if they are still hard after 45 min) add a pinch of baking soda.
Add the remaining 2 cups of water, or more if soup is very thick and lentils are still too firm. Continue simmering until lentils are soft.
When lentils are as soft as you'd like, add any more water needed to achieve soup consistency desired (this soup can be thicker or more brothy – your choice). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Optional: Carrots can often make soups and stews come off tasting sweet. To balance that, add lemon juice or plain white vinegar, a 1/4 tsp at a time until you like the result. If you have citric acid on hand, that works great too - just add a pinch at a time.