Now that San Pedro is fully into the winter season, nothing beats a warming bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day. And here we would like to propose a very typical family Spanish hearty soup: Lentil Soup (Sopa de Lentejas), which is traditionally enjoyed across Spanish homes and also typically appears on Spanish restaurant menus.
Every family has its own version of this recipe and the soup is usually eaten as a first course for lunch. It is considered too heavy for dinner, which makes sense as Spaniards normally eat dinner quite late.
This easy-to-make soup is not only tasty but is nutritious too. At only 256kcal per 100g serving (depending on how much chorizo you use!), this lovely dish will soon be your favourite if you haven’t cooked it already!
The lentils must be soaked for a couple of hours before use, and the soup can either be done for around 60 minutes in a cooking pot or ½ that time in a pressure cooker.
Ingredients for four:
Lentils – aprox. 115g per person (lenteja pardina is the recommended type to use)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 large potatoes
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves
2 green peppers
2 carrots
250g of chopped tomatoes
1 or 2 chorizos
1 teaspoon of pimentón dulce (paprika)
1 Bay leaf
Salt and pepper
When the oil is warm add the chopped garlic, onion, peppers, pinch of salt and stir. Chop the carrots and potatoes in cubes and add them to the pot. Sauté for a couple of minutes then add a teaspoon of pimentón dulce (paprika) and quickly mix in with the vegetables (be careful it doesn’t burn).
Next incorporate the sliced chorizo, and then add the chopped tomatoes and mix around. After a couple of minutes, add the drained lentils. Raise the heat and add water covering two fingers over the lentils, finally adding a bay leaf and also a pinch of cumin powder, to your taste.
When it starts to boil, lower the heat to a minimum and let it cook slowly for around 60 minutes, covering the pot. But after 45 min, check the lentils and rectify seasoning if needed. At this time the soup will be ready to eat, but if it is left to rest, the taste becomes even richer.
Enjoy your lentejas!