The house will smell good as it simmers, and it’ll make you all warm, toasty, and satiated inside. Meet Red Lentil Soup.
One Tuesday, a bunch of us gathered at Renee Muller’s house for a Between Carpools photoshoot.
“It smells good here,” said Leah, “What are you cooking?”
“A soup recipe Naomi Hazan gave me,” Renee said. “It uses a bunch of spices I never used before, like allspice.”
“You never used allspice before?!?” Victoria was slightly aghast. The exotic Renee never met allspice before? “It’s the spice I need to replenish the most often! Allspice is everything…..”
“What’s in allspice?” Renee asked.
“It’s not a blend. It’s its own, flowery spice.”
A little while later, Renee tasted the soup. “Oh, wow, this is good soup!”
Allspice now has a place in Renee’s spice cabinet…and Victoria has one more excuse to pull it out.
Red Lentil Soup
- 1 pound dry red lentils (soaked for at least 2 hours to overnight)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon Himalayan salt
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 10 cups water
- In a large soup pot, heat oil. Add celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and salt and saute for about 10 minutes.
- Add in the spices and tomato paste and stir for 1 minute, then add in the lentils and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour, until all ingredients are tender and soup has thickened (do not cover pot). Serve.
looks delicious and healthy! how does it freeze?
Freezes really well!
I don’t have turmeric, cumin or allspice. Can I still make this soup? ????
Sure, but I do strongly recommend getting those spices for the complete authentic flavor
How much is a pound of lentils? A bag?
It says to keep uncovered. So don’t cover pot at all for entire hour it’s cooking ??? Or toward end open it …???
The entire cooking time. But do as you please…. Leaving the pot open makes the soup thick
Update: all new spices purchased. Showed my kids the lentils soaking- I love that this is a learning experience for them from the parsha! Thanks so much
Oh good!!! Let us know how you liked it! (p.s. you are totally winning the Fan Of The Year award!)
Can you sub the Himalayan salt for 1 T. of regular table salt?
Absolutely!
I made this soup and it was incredible! A real winner. Thanks!
I tried this soup last night and it was a big hit!! The blend of flavors were amazing! Thanks for the great recipe!
I am definitely the fan of the year… ???? I made the soup. Just a disclaimer. I put in half the amount of the aromatic spices-need to go slow on my Hungarian taste buds…
soup was very good definitely a change from the usual. It turned greenish tho… I don’t know why. Maybe I cooked it too long? The lentils didn’t seem soft and there’s nothing worse than hard lentils in a soup. Soaked the overnight btw
Hey Dinah, I tried emailing a while back. Can you email hello @betweencarpools. com
Thank you so much for the delicious recipe! Got used to the new taste pretty quickly. It was a nice change from the traditional soups. Really great for a cold winter night!!!
U have to eat Otimo’s white bean soup! It’s sickkkk. They took it off the menu and only have it as a soup of the day once in a while. It’s my fave!
This was AMAZING! It tasted like restaurant quality / catered deliciousness! I added meaty neck bones that I had in my freezer and made it into a whole meal. I will be saving this recipe to make over and over. BTW how did you read my mind? I often stand over my spice drawer wishfully wondering how to use my random spices. Thanks so much!!!
Even though I would’ve loved to get that authenticity, I made the soup without turmeric and cumin because husband doesn’t like, and it was STILL fabulous!! Delicious, cozy and filling! Divided it up into containers and sent it out to my friends. A real winner! Thank you so much!
This soup was amazing!!! Thanks so much!!
Can this be made with the Gefen precooked lentils? That would make it simpler and more likely to actually get made 😉
Delicious and easy! Made it for dinner! Thanks 🙂
Hi! Parshas Toldos Erev Shabbos comment 🙂 Can you brown and put a stew meat in it??