Silver threads in mist
cozy thoughts bloom like winter buds
a taste of pleasure
About red lentil and butternut squash soup…
Dear friends,
Today it was, surprisingly, raining here in London! It’s a good problem to have (better this than months of drought as it happened last summer back home in Italy), but sometimes I wish there would be more light outside. It surely boosts my mood seeing a beautiful blue sky, and hearing all the birds in the park chirping and being busy at.. Well, being birds.
During these cold rainy days, I find comfort in warm soups and stews, a contrasting cozyness to the harsh weather outside. Soups are my favourite dinner nowadays, but they can be tricky to get right.
One of my goals is to create recipes that are just enough for two people, and use an entire vegetable, or an entire can of beans, or a full egg. Because I hate the idea that who makes the recipes is then left with, as an example, half an onion that sits in the fridge for days, unused. But sometimes I have to give into the fact that some vegetables cannot be as small or as big as I need them to be: think butternut squash. It’s undeniably big.
Also, there’s another factor playing here.
Sometimes people just don’t want to cook something different every day. I too find myself struggling occasionally, when I get home from work, numbed by the cold rain, tired from all those hours standing, lifting, stirring etc, and all I want is to put dinner on the table in five minutes tops, or even less if possible.
So, here’s when meal prep comes in handy. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that the more you prepare the longer you have to work in the kitchen. Sometimes it is just investing a couple more minutes, that will then be worth several minutes or hours of work spare later on.
Although not everything can be prepped in advance (without compromising taste and/or freshness), I find soups to be a very resilient workforce that allows me to have a bit of giggle room in my dinner planning. The majority of them sit well in the fridge for a few days, as well as in the freezer.
I’m saying all of this, because it makes more sense to me that certain recipes, although still aimed at a small household, if all these conditions happen, are made in larger batches than I would normally do.
And if it does happen that a recipe calls for half or part of a vegetable, I promptly develop another one that uses that same ingredient, so you have more choice available, and don’t waste anything in the end.
Coming to the main dish of this post, this spiced red lentil and butternut squash soup is a real masterpiece. And you know how underwhelmed I always feel about something I’ve done, so if I say so, it’s true.
It has all the best flavour elements: sweetness from the carrots and the coconut milk, earthiness and heat from the spices, the umami of onions and garlic, and creaminess that goes on for days! Another great virtue of it (if what I just mentioned wasn’t captivating enough), is that you don’t have to soak split red lentils in advance. You can, don’t get me wrong, but they’re good to go just as they are. It won’t take long to break them down, and as long as you have a good immersion blender (here is the one I use), the soup will come out perfect. And what about eating the soup with these fantastic, crispy crackers on the side?
So here it is, hope you like it as much as I do. If you try it, I would love to hear your feedback, so feel free to leave a comment below, or write to me on Instagram or Pinterest. It would mean a lot to me!
Let’s get cooking.
List of Ingredients
- Onion, 1 medium
- Carrot, 1 medium
- Butternut squash, around 280gr
- Dry split red lentils, 150gr
- Spring onion, 1 small sprig
- Garlic, 2 big cloves
- Ground ginger, ½+¼ tsp
- Ground turmeric ¼ tsp
- Coriander seeds, crushed, 1 tsp
- Salt, 1 ½ tsp
- Coconut milk, 1 can (400ml)
- Water, as needed
- Vegetable oil, 2 tbsp (20gr)
- Lime, 1
Servings
- 4 people (or 2 for a couple of meals)
Method
- Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan on a medium heat. In the meantime cut the onion, carrots and butternut squash into small chops, and finely slice the garlic.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, on medium high heat (you want them to get a bit “toasted”, it’s okay if they darken up a bit, as long as you don’t really burn them).
- Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes, then add carrot, squash and lentils and cover all with hot boiling water. At this point also add the spices (ginger, turmeric and crushed coriander seeds). Let cook on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until the lentils have soaked up most of the water. Keep adding a ladle of hot water at a time, until the red lentils are fully cooked through.
- At this point, add the coconut milk and cook for further 10 minutes to reduce it slightly.
- With the immersion blender, blitz the soup directly into the pan, until you reach a creamy and smooth texture. Squeeze in the juice of a lime and stir to combine.
- Serve hot optionally with a sprinkle of spring onions and fresh coriander and a drizzle of oil.