Turkish Green Lentil Soup Food

TURKISH LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat a large thick bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the oil, onion and carrot. Sauté, stirring regularly, until softened but not coloured, 8-10 minutes.
• Add the garlic, tomato paste, red pepper paste and sugar. Fry, stirring constantly, until aromas fill your kitchen and the tomato and pepper pastes have been cooked through and mixed well with the other ingredients, 1-2 minutes. Add the lentils and give it all a good stir.
• Add the water and season to taste with salt and pepper. The amount of water is for a fairly thin Turkish-style soup. Reduce the amount to 1 ltrs for a thicker version. Bring to a boil, pop on a lid and turn the heat down to low. Leave to simmer until the lentils are cooked through and starting to fall apart, around 15 minutes.
• Whizz with a stick blender (or regular blender, making sure not to overfill it). Leave off the heat for a few minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter (or extra virgin olive oil) in a small pan or pot until melted and bubbling (or hot, in the case of the oil). Take off the heat and stir in the Aleppo pepper.
• Serve the soup warm with a spoonful of chili butter as well as a sprinkling of freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley, if you like. And don't forget a squeeze of lemon juice.

VEGAN TURKISH RED LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add thyme sprigs, garlic, cumin, and bay leaves; cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.
• Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, red lentils, tomato paste, oregano, remaining salt, and pepper to the saucepan. Cover partially and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are very soft and falling apart, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Let soup cool briefly, about 10 minutes. Transfer 4 cups of soup to a blender; blend until smooth. Mix back into the saucepan. Stir in water. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with chopped parsley and a squirt of lemon juice.

TURKISH RED LENTIL SOUP WITH MINT

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Cook and stir the onion in the hot oil until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir the garlic into the onion and cook another 2 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes to the onion mixture; continue to cook and stir another 10 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock, red lentils, bulgur, rice, tomato paste, paprika, cayenne pepper, and mint to the tomato mixture; season with salt and black pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer until the the lentils and rice are cooked through, about 30 minutes.
• Pour the soup into a blender to no more than half full. Firmly hold the lid in place and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth; pour into your serving dish. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in cooking pot.

TURKISH GREEN LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• Sautee the onion with butter for 4-5 minutes in a medium-sized pot.
• Then add the flour, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
• Pour in the hot water slowly, stirring constantly. Make sure the flour doesn't clump.
• Add in the washed and drained lentils, salt and cumin.
• Cook until the lentils are soft on medium heat. Stir occasionally. Taste it along the way and if necessary, add more salt or water. Pour the soup into your soup bowls with a ladle.
• Mix the garnish ingredients in a small bowl. Pour 1 tbsp of the garnish in each soup bowl.

TURKISH LENTIL SOUP (MERCIMEK CORBASI)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Once the oil is hot, add the diced onion and sauté for 4 minutes.
• Add the diced carrot and diced potato to the pot. Sauté for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic cloves and stir for 30 seconds.
• Add the tomato paste, cumin, salt, paprika, oregano, black pepper, and cayenne. Stir for 30 seconds and then deglaze the bottom of the pot with a small amount of the chicken or vegetable stock.
• Add the remaining stock and lentils. Stir and increase heat till the soup is boiling. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
• If the soup is getting too thick, add up to 1 cup of water.
• Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the dried mint. Using an immersion blender or a stand blender, blend the soup till it's creamy and all the ingredients are incorporated.
• Optional Paprika Oil - Heat the oil in a small pot and add the paprika. Stir to combine and remove from heat. Continue to stir till fully incorporated.
• Serve with lemon wedges. If you'd like, add a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a drizzle of paprika oil.

GREEN LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a big soup pot, saute bacon over medium heat until browned and crispy; about 5 minutes.
• Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels; set aside.
• Add in garlic, celery, onion, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme to the pot; saute until vegetables are softened, about 6 minutes.
• Add in lentils, stock, and tomatoes w/ juice; bring to a boil.
• Decrease heat and simmer until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.
• Thin with a little more stock, if needed, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until hot.
• Discard bay leaves; season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Ladle into heated bowls and garnish with reserved bacon.