05 Aug Summer Soup
Another week of British Summer which promises to be warm but of course it wouldn’t be complete with a few showers here and there or another one of our summer recipes! The humid and ever-changing weather can leave you feeling tired so the last thing you want to do is get home and make something that’s difficult and time consuming. Not to worry! We’re here to show you our simple Summer Soup recipe which is another great addition to your home cooking menu this summer.
The soup dish we’re sharing with you today can be made from things you can have in your cupboards all year round, so you may want to reuse this recipe when it comes to the winter months! We know you may be thinking the words summer and soup don’t exactly go together but trust us, this is a lovely light soup that can be enjoyed on a summer’s day with some fresh garlic bread and may be a welcome relief from all those cold salads you’ve been having!
So without further or do, let’s get started!
What You’ll Need:
100g green lentils
Olive oil
1 onion
4 garlic cloves
2 chillies (optional)
Fresh basil leaves (and stalk)
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
400ml of vegetable stock
Salt and pepper (freshly ground)
With your ingredients for this dish you can make them as simple as you want so that the only fresh ones you will need are onion and basil leaves. Get a jar of pre chopped garlic from the supermarket and if you’re adding chillies you can do the same for these. For the basil you can get just the fresh leaves and replace the stalks with some dried basil.
It’s really up to you when it comes to this recipe, it’s really simple anyway but you can save even more time and make it easier by swapping these few ingredients.
What You’ll Need To Do:
- Pop your lentils in a pan and cover with water so that there is around 1 inch of water covering them. Put them on a medium heat, they should boil in around 20 minutes and once they have put them to simmer for another 40 minutes. This is the most time consuming part of the making but you can use the time the lentils are simmering to get on with the rest of the recipe of you could pre-prepare the lentils so that when you come to make the dish they’re ready. A little tip to know when the lentils are ready, if you squeeze one between your fingers it should be soft and not starchy.
- Next, finely chop your onion. Put two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, heat and add the onions, stirring for around 5 minutes.
- Once the onions are starting to look transparent you’re ready to add the chopped garlic and basil stalks (keep the leaves for later). If you like a bit of spice in your food you can also add some chopped chilli! Stir for around a minute until you can smell the garlic and basil.
- Add to the garlic and basil the tin of tomatoes, vegetable stock and the cooked lentils including any water remaining in the pan after they’ve cooked. Stir and leave to cook for 5 minutes for the flavours to marry.
- Get your salt and pepper to season and then you’re ready to pop it into bowls. To make it extra special, add the basil leaves to the top, drizzle some olive oil over it and add a last dash of salt and pepper, then you’re ready to serve!
So there you have it, a quick, easy soup recipe made from ingredients you can keep your cupboard stocked with the whole year round!
Another little addition you can make to your soup dish is accompanying it with some homemade garlic bread. Again this is a really easy recipe so don’t worry, you won’t have to mix your own dough! All you’ll need is a part baked baguette, olive oil, fresh chopped garlic and some herbs, we recommend dried thyme and oregano.
For the garlic mix, combine olive oil, fresh chopped garlic and the herbs of your choice. How you make the mix is really up to you, if you want it to have more of a garlic taste then add more and the same can be said for the herbs, combine everything until you have the taste you’re looking for.
Take the part baked baguette and make cuts along it which are half way deep and around 1 inch apart. Spoon the garlic mix into the cuts with a teaspoon and try to avoid any overspill. Then pop the baguette in the oven according to the pack instructions for the perfect accompaniment to your tomato and lentil soup!
We hope we’ve inspired you to try out some new things in your kitchen this summer and if you’d like to take your learning to the next level then why not arrange private cooking lessons with one of our chefs? The chef will come to you with all ingredients and you can learn whatever you want, it can be a great way to learn new dishes or treat a foodie to an unforgettable experience!
If you’d like more information on our cooking lesson, get in touch today.
