Turkish lentil meal soup (vegetarian)

Turkish lentil meal soup or mericimek corbasi is a delicious vegetarian soup. It is a good source of protein, but also more animal-friendly, sustainable, healthier and cheaper. In addition, red lentils have a high nutritional value because they contain a lot of protein, minerals, vitamins, very little fat and fiber. Furthermore, the red lentils have a long shelf life and are easy to prepare. Go to the recipe.

Turkish lentil meal soup (vegetarian) – 4 persons

Ingrediënts:

500 grams of red lentils ( such as Valle del Sol)

1 large winter carrot or 2 small winter carrots

2 large potatoes chopped into small pieces

1 red chopped onion

1 red pointed pepper or regular bell pepper

1 liter of water

few sprigs of mint

1 lemon

1 Turkish bread (pide)

2 tablespoons of sunflower oil

3 cloves of chopped garlic

1 pack of vegetable stock cubes

1 can of tomato paste

black pepper

1 chopped chilli (seeded)

green olives (optional)

1 jar of Turkish feta cheese (optional)

Instructions:

1,There are Turkish lentil soup recipes where you don’t have to soak the red lentils but cooking time is much longer. From my own experience I decided to soak my red lentils for 4 hours to shorten the cooking time and increase digestibility. Before cooking the red lentils, I wash them in a colander.

2.In the meantime, you are going to make vegetable stock by putting 1 liter in a large pan with a number of stock cubes in it. It must have a strong taste. I put in 2 large stock cubes myself. Also dice the potatoes, carrots and bell pepper and put them aside in a large bowl. You can of course also use other types of vegetables.

3.Put sunflower oil in a large pan and heat it, then add the red lentils and fry for a minute while stirring well. The lentils will then discolour a little. Do not add the chopped garlic and chopped onion until all the lentils are discolored. Garlic and onion should only be added to the lentils and should not be fried. Then deglaze them immediately with a liter of strong vegetable stock. During cooking, add salt and black pepper to taste and tomato paste. I do half of the can of tomato paste myself, but of course you can also add everything.

4.Then add the potato cubes, carrot cubes and bell pepper cubes to the lentil soup. Cook the soup until the lentils are completely cooked. If you soak the lentils beforehand, the cooking time will be a lot shorter than if you did not soak the lentils.

5.Ten minutes before the end, add the chopped chilli depending on how hot you want it to be. I myself put half a seedless chopped chilli in it.

6.Put the soup in 4 bowls and squeeze a fresh lemon into the soup. Furthermore, chopped mint. It is delicious with Turkish bread (pide) and a side dish with olives and Turkish feta cheese. Enjoy your meal!