Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup
I recently had a hankering for some lentils, and I found a recipe for Red Lentil and Chorizo Soup.
It was spectacularly good. I took a few creative liberties with the recipe:
- I replaced the chicken stock with vegetable stock
- I used both Plain Yogurt and Sour Cream (one dollop of each on top!)
- I used up all the chorizo on about half the soup, so more Chorizo is definitely desirable
- I used more generous helpings of the olive oil, spices, and garlic
- I used ground cumin rather than cumin seeds
- I avoided the sugar
- I didn’t blend it at the end at all
This recipe is relatively easy and absolutely fantastic. It’s definitely joining my regular repertoire!
To preserve it for posterity in case the BBC changes its links or whatever else might happen, the recipe is copied below:
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 200g cooking chorizo, peeled and diced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- pinch of cumin seeds
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika, plus extra for sprinkling
- small splash red wine vinegar
- 250g red lentil
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomato
- 850ml vegetable stock
- plain yogurt and/or sour cream, to serve
Method
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the chorizo and cook until crisp and it has released its oils. Remove with a slotted spoon into a bowl, leaving the fat in the pan. Fry the onion, carrots and cumin seeds for 10 mins until soft and glistening, then add the garlic and fry for 1 min more. Scatter over the paprika and cook for 1 min, then splash in the vinegar. Simmer for a moment, then stir in the lentils, and pour over the tomatoes and vegetable stock.
- Give it a good stir, then simmer for 30 mins or until the lentils are tender. Can be made several days ahead or frozen for 6 months at this point. Serve in bowls, drizzled with yogurt and olive oil, scattered with the chorizo and a sprinkling of paprika.
- Nom nom nom