Melissa Clark’s Red Lentil Soup.
In one of his weekly recipe roundups, the New York Times’ Sam Sifton mentioned Melissa Clark’s Red Lentil Soup as the only recipe she follows to the letter every time. Which got us wondering: what is so magical about this technique? Turns out the recipe does include variable ingredients and quantities… so not immutable after all. But it’s nourishing, easy, quick and cheap so we’re glad we found it. And yes, we’ve tweaked it as we always do. Makes about 4 delicious bowls of soup.
Ingredients:
I large onion, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3 T good olive oil
1 t ground cumin
½ t Kosher salt plus possibly more after tasting
¼ t ground black pepper
¼ t chili powder (your choice; we used a mild New Mexico variety)
1 c split red lentils (masoor dal)
4 c chicken or vegetable stock
Additional water as desired*
1 T lemon juice (or substitute 1 t ground sumac)
2 T finely chopped cilantro (or substitute 2 T finely chopped fresh mint or 2 t dried mint)
Alternate garnish of sumac and dried mint.
Method: sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil till wilted, around 3 minutes. Add the spices and sauté 2 more minutes till everything is reduced and aromatic. Add carrots, lentils and stock and simmer till the carrots are just tender, around 30 minutes. Transfer half the soup to a blender or use an immersion blender to purée so the soup is mostly a smooth even texture but still has lumpy bits. Add lemon juice or sumac and taste for seasoning; we think ½ t salt is enough but you might want more and you might add more chili powder. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro or mint.
*Melissa Clark adds 2 more cups of water to the 4 c stock, which we think is way too much. Without extra water, it’s the perfect pea soup texture. But add more if you like and adjust the seasoning if you do.
