I love lentils and I especially love lentil soup. I remember when the boys were little they just gobbled it up, and thankfully they still enjoy it. I always change up lentil soup depending on the type of lentils, vegetables and stock I have on hand.

I recently discovered Jaswant’s Tadka Masala, and I like to add it to my soups. It’s not very strong, but it adds a lovely flavour. I often use it in my butternut squash soup (recipe to come).

You can easily swap this out for any mild curry powder that you have or omit it completely. To make this soup extra fun I have added some little pasta shapes, although once I cooked the soup you can’t really see them.  Oh well, it’s tastes wonderful anyway!

Ingredients:

2-3 Carrots

2 Celery Stalks

1 small onion

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup Split Red Lentils

950ml Chicken Stock (you can use veggie stock if you prefer)

1 tsp Jaswant’s Tadka Masala

1/2 cup small pasta (i.e. alphabets)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Extra water/stock to thin out (as needed)

Directions:

Clean and chop the carrots, celery and onion.

Heat olive in large pan.  Once hot, add chopped veggies and cook just until onions start to soften.

Add in the split red lentils & Masala and cook for 2 minutes.

Add in the stock, cover, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. The pasta I used has a cooking time of 6 minutes, I added it in at the end with some extra water to thin it out and some some salt and pepper. Let cook for allotted time and serve. So in under 30 minutes you have a wonderful homemade soup. This soup is great on the day, but can also be packed in individual serving sizes for lunch the next day.