With the temperatures plummeting, I am craving nothing more than warm hearty foods! I love soup but many of the options in the supermarket keep me full for a whole two minutes and are loaded with salt. Your stomach empties and digests liquids a lot quicker than solids so a thick, chunky soup with some bread is definitely needed to make it a good meal. This leek, carrot and lentil soup is packed with veggies and lentils which makes it filling and nutritious, plus it is easy to make and absolutely delicious.
Roasting the vegetables beforehand and using fresh chilli adds so much depth and warmth to the flavour of this leek carrot and lentil soup. The combination of the lentils with all those roasted carrots, leeks and chilli tastes divine! Soups are a great option to make a big batch of and keep portions in the fridge and freezer for a quick lunch; the ingredients for this are so cheap so it is an incredibly budget-friendly option for a lot of portions.
Equipment
- A powerful food processor or hand blender is really key to making smooth, velvety soup. I use and love the Sage Kitchen Whizz Pro (Breville Sous Chef), it is pricey, but is a workhorse for any keen cooks and saves me so much time! It has so many functions beyond blending, it can slice, dice, fold dough, shred and so much more.
Recipe Modifications
- Lentils: red lentils work best in this recipe, but green lentils will also work well. You may need to cook for an extra 5 minutes until tender.
- Vegetables: leek and carrot are key flavours in this soup, but in a pinch you could use celery instead of leek.
Leek, Carrot and Lentil Soup
Ingredients
- 4 carrots
- 3 leeks
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 red chili
- 150 g dried red lentils 1 cup
- 1.5 L vegetable stock
- parsley or coriander to serve
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400f).
- Remove the tops and tails from the leeks and carrots. Chop all in to 1 cm rounds.
- Slice the onion in to half moons.
- Peel the cloves of garlic.
- Roughly chop the chilli and remove the seeds.
- Arrange all of the above on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 30-40 min until the carrots have softened slightly and the vegetables are lightly golden.
- Once cooked, add the vegetables to a food processor with half of the stock and blend for 2 min until smooth.
- Add the mixture to a large saucepan over medium heat with the remaining vegetable stock and the lentils.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 min until the lentils are tender.
- Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve with a crack of black pepper and some chopped parsley.
Notes
I hope you guys enjoy this leek, carrot and lentil soup recipe, please let me know down in the comments what you think! If you make it and want to share, feel free to tag me @essentially.emma on Instagram. If you liked this recipe you may also like my Curried Butternut Squash Soup recipe.
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