Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup

Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup is a tasty, warming dish for Autumn and Winter. Or any other time you want a hot, comforting bowl of goodness. The soup is full of smoky flavour whether you make the original with bacon, or follow my tip for a completely plant-based version. A bowl will provide you with around half of your five-a-day. What’s not to like?

SMOKY LENTIL & VEGETABLE SOUP

As I write this post, we’ve still at least a couple of months of winter left. So that’s plenty of time for me to rustle up some more tasty, comforting and warming soup recipes. And I think the one I have for you here is a blinder.

My Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup packs a lot into each tasty bowlful. Besides my favourite pulse, lentils, the soup is loaded with vegetables. Together, they”ll help you tick off around half your daily veg portions. The soup is full of smoky flavour too, whether you’re a meat lover or want to keep the recipe completely plant-based.

LENTILS

Lentils are one of the most easily available and economical pulses. They’re also a good source of fibre, protein and iron.

You could make this soup with split red lentils, but I’ve used whole green ones. Because these have their skins intact, they give more body and texture. I think this additional robustness is perfect for the soup’s strong, smoky flavour.

The most prized and well known green lentils are Puy lentils. These are named after the region in France where they’re produced and protected under the European Union’s PDO system. But for my soup I’ve used regular green lentils, often labelled as lentilles vertes to differentiate them from Puy. In theory, they won’t have such a fine flavour, but in a soup I doubt that really matters. My lentilles vertes were also a third of the price at £1.15 instead of £3.50 for 500 grams.

Although you don’t need to soak lentils, I always do as it cuts the cooking time considerably. For green lentils I soak in boiling water for thirty minutes to an hour. Once added to the soup, they’re nicely soft in around twenty five minutes.

SMOKY SOUP

The smokiness in this soup comes from two ingredients: bacon and smoked paprika.

I get excellent quality smoked streaky bacon from Denstone Hall Farm Shop. It’s not too thinly cut, has a nice amount of fat to enrich the soup and, most importantly, a good, strong smoky flavour. I love streaky bacon, not just in a classic bacon sandwich, but it’s great for cooking with or adding to main course salads like Caesar Salad or Cobb Salad. If you freeze it in slices, you can just take out the number of rashers you need with no waste.

Smoked Paprika is everywhere these days, and rightly so. I couldn’t imagine not having a tin of it in my spice cupboard. Great for adding to soups, stews, marinades, dressings and dips, I even use it in my favourite chutney: Smoky Tomato Chilli Chutney. I’ve put a generous three teaspoonfuls of the lovely stuff in my Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup.

Tip: for vegan or vegetarian-friendly Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup, just leave out the bacon and add another teaspoon of smoked paprika and use a little more olive oil.

HALF of your five-a-day in one bowl

I reckon that the lentils and vegetables in this soup will help you tick off around half of your recommended minimum of five daily portions of fruit and veg. NHS guidance says that no matter how many beans or pulses you eat in one day, they’ll still count as only one portion. That’s because, although they’re a useful part of the diet, they’re nutritionally very different to vegetables.

However, as well as the portion provided by the lentils, there’s onion, carrot, celery, leek, garlic and greens. These will give another one and a half portions.

For the greens, I’ve used cavolo nero or Tuscan kale. It’s a staple at our house as it grows easily in our  little vegetable plot. But you could use any other greens you like, such as regular kale, chard or spinach.

CHUNKY SOUP LOVER?

No, I’m not asking whether you’re a little on the tubby side. It’s just that you can leave your Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup un-pureed if you like. I think it does look attractively rustic that way and you get to see all the fresh, healthy ingredients that have gone into making it.

Personally, I like a soup that’s almost smooth but not quite. When the lentils and vegetables are soft, I go in with my stick blender and whizz until there’s just a little graininess left. Maybe with the occasional piece of carrot or lentil still discernible.

SERVING SMOKY LENTIL & VEGETABLE SOUP

To serve, I like to top each bowl with a swirl of soured cream or yogurt plus a sprinkle of chopped parsley for colour and freshness.

If you want some crunch, add croutons too (take a look at my recipe for Creamy White Bean Soup or Caesar Salad for how to make croutons).

I think Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup is one of my favourites. Hearty, thick, tasty and dead simple to make, I hope you’ll give it a go and tell me what you think.

5 from 2 votes

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Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup

Smoky Lentil & Vegetable Soup is great when you need a warming, comforting bowl of goodness & each one contains around half your recommended daily veg. To make the soup vegan or vegetarian friendly, just leave out the bacon & add more smoked paprika & olive oil.

Course Soup

Cuisine British

Keyword soup, lentil soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes

soaking the lentils 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 rashers smoked streaky bacon rind removed, roughly chopped or snipped with scissors
• 1 large onion roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot roughly chopped
• 1 stick celery finely chopped
• 1 medium leek roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tsp smoked paprika
• 200 g green or Puy lentils soaked in boiling water 30-60 min
• 1.2 litres low salt stock chicken, vegetable or water
• 4 handfuls cavolo nero or kale tough stems removed, leaves roughly chopped
• salt to taste

To Serve:

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley optional
• 2 tbsp soured cream, cream, yogurt optional

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped bacon. Cook until well browned (8-12 min).
   

2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, leek and garlic to the pan, season with black pepper and give it a stir. Saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are starting to soften and brown (10-12 min).
   

3. Stir in the smoked paprika and cook for a further minute.
   

4. Add the soaked lentils and stir to combine with the rest of the ingredients.
   

5. Pour in 1 litre of the stock, stir, then bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes then reduce the heat and bring down to a simmer.
   

6. Put a lid on the soup and simmer until the lentils are soft (approx 25 minutes). Stir occasionally to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
   

7. Stir in the cavolo nero or kale, replace the lid and cook for a further 5 minutes.
   

8. Take the saucepan off the heat and, using a stick blender, blend to your desired consistency (you can also leave it chunky if you prefer). Add more of the stock to make the soup thinner if needed.
   

9. Taste the soup and add salt and more pepper if liked.
   

10. Serve the soup, adding a swirl of cream, soured cream or yogurt and chopped parsley if liked.

    Can be cooled then refrigerated or frozen, without the garnishes.