Rosemary Lentil Soup

Serves 6

An absolute winter staple. Nothing fancy here. Just a simple, nourishing and delicious classic that should always find a place in your freezer, and indeed your tummy. And thanks to those handy new frozen soffritto mixes (available in most supermarkets), it’s the perfect recipe when you literally don’t have anything fresh in the fridge whatsoever! Soffrito is an Italian staple that forms the basis of so many of it’s recipes — a combination of diced onion, celery and carrots. So feel free to substitute the fresh veggies for the frozen mix to make this recipe that bit quicker and easier to make. It is low in calories, low in fat, provides 9g of plant-based protein and a huge 118% of my Vitamin A requirements.

Easy Peasy Lentil Squeezy.

INGREDIENTS

· 3 Carrots
· 6 Cloves Garlic
· 1 tbsp Rapeseed Oil
· 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
· 5 Celery Stalks
· 2 Sprigs Rosemary
· 2 Sprigs Oregano
· 2 Large Onions
· 200 g Dried Lentil & Barley Soup Mix
· 4 tsp Smoked Paprika
· 1–2 tsp fresh chilli or dried chilli flakes — depending on what level of spice tickles your fancy, if any!
· Himalayan Salt
· Pepper
· 1.5 litre Vegetable Stock
· Optional — 3 tbsp Grated Parmesan to serve

METHOD

· Peel the carrots.
· Finely chop the chilli.
· Dice the carrots, onions and celery.
· Finely chop the garlic.
· Heat up the oil and sweat the onions until soft.
· Add the carrots and celery and continue to sweat for another 5 minutes.
· Add the chilli (if using), paprika and garlic and sauté for another minute or two.
· Add 1l stock and the dried soup mix.
· Add the rosemary and chop off the hard end rind of a block of parmesan and drop it in — this is obviously optional but really adds to the flavour.
· Add the tomato puree.
· After simmering on a low-medium heat for 20 minutes, add another 500ml stock.
· Depending on how thick the soup is getting, add another 200ml water after another 20 minutes.
· Season with salt and pepper to taste.
· The soup should be done after an hour, depending on the type of soup mix used.
· Remove the parmesan rind and the rosemary sprigs.
· Sprinkle with parmesan to serve

Nutritional Information

Calories — 198
Carbohydrates — 27g
Fat — 5g
Protein — 9g
Fibre — 3g
Vitamin A — 118%
Vitamin C — 10%
Calcium — 6%
Iron — 3%