Autumn is finally here

April has been an exceptionally hot month, truly thought that autumn would never arrive, but finally the evenings are cool and tonight the first soup of the season was cooked.  Soup is one of our great pleasures of  the cooler months.  A big plate of steaming soup and crusty bread is hard to beat.  

Each year I like to add a few new recipes to the tried and trusted.  This is the first addition for 2016.

Tonight we used our nearly two hundred year  old soup plates, beautiful blue and white china, very special to have. 

Carrot and lentil soup

Ingredients:

• 30mL olive oil
• 2 onions chopped one red and one white)
• 3 cloves garlic chopped finely or pressed
• 1 tbs grated ginger
• 1 red chilli finely chopped
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 tbs tomato paste                                                   
• 750g carrots chopped
• 100g dried red lentils rinsed
• 400g tomatoes finely chopped
• Juice of a lemon
• Curry leaves
• 1L stock

Method:

1.      Heat olive oil in soup pot and cook onion, garlic, ginger and chilli over medium heat for 5 minutes

2.      Add curry powder and tomato paste and cook for three more minutes

3.      Add carrots, lentils, tomatoes, stock and additional 1L water.  Season

4.      Add chickpeas tomatoes, lemon juice, curry leaves and stock and bring to boil

5.      Reduce heat and simmer for one hour

6.      Cool and blend until smooth or leave a bit chunky

7.      Season with salt and pepper and add more water before reheating if necessary.