Ingredients

The following ingredients have 5 Servings
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper*
  • 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and picked over
  • 1 small Yukon gold potato, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
  • fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
  • fresh lemon wedges and chopped fresh herbs (cilantro and/or mint), for serving

Instruction

  • Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrot, and sauté for 5 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin and Aleppo pepper. Sauté for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the stock, red lentils, potato, and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain the simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
  • If you would like to purée the soup, use an immersion blender to purée until completely smooth. Or transfer the soup to a traditional blender (I recommend doing this in two batches, so as not to overfill the blender), and carefully purée* until smooth.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve warm, garnished with chopped fresh herbs and fresh lemon wedges for squeezing.  (The lemon juice is essential, in my opinion, so be sure to add a good squeeze!)