This is a traditional Eastern Mediterranean red lentil soup. It is so simple yet full of flavour, a favourite peasant soup of mine. When I make it for friends, they usually cannot believe that it has only two main ingredients. A perfect winter soup.

Red lentil soup with rice

Serves 4
preparation time 10 minutes
cooking time 50 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils
1/4 cup long grain rice
1 medium brown onion
3-4 table-spoons olive oil
sea salt to taste
water
freshly cracked pepper to taste

Rinse lentils well several times, then place in pot and cover with water, about 5 cm higher than lentils. Bring to boil and let it simmer gently for about 30 minutes. In the meantime dice onion finely and put in a fry pan with olive oil and fry gently until it is golden brown. It is important to brown it well otherwise it will not add enough flavour to the soup. Add a little olive oil if necessary while browning onions.

Check lentils after 30 minutes and add water if necessary. When lentils are really soft, rinse rice and add it to the soup. Let it cook for another ten minutes, add onions and make sure you add a bit of water to the hot fry-pan and pour the juices on top of soup. Add salt to taste and let it simmer for another 10 minutes adding extra water if necessary. The soup needs to be creamy and thick but not too thick and definitely not watery. Serve and add freshly cracked pepper to taste.

Red lentil soup with rice

Red lentil soup with rice