Recipe
Spicy Lentil & Pumpkin Soup
Words & Photography by Stella Pereira
“On Soups and Autumn”
There is something about Autumn…
It’s boldly coloured leaves dancing to the sounds of a gentle breeze,
It’s shimmering reflections on dimly lit cobbled streets.
The aroma of smoky chimneys,
busy kitchens cooking pots of hearty soups.
People gathered around tables,
sharing old stories in comforting rooms,
hands tightly wrapped around hot bowls,
slowly sipping spicy concoctions that warm their very souls.
Ingredients
2 cups of red lentils
100g of pumpkin
2 medium shallots, finely sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 small leek, sliced
2 tomatoes
1 cinnamon stick
2 spoons of Parsley, finely chopped
Water
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Method
In a large pan over a medium heat, soften garlic, shallots and leek with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the lentils, pumpkin and cinnamon stick, stir until coated. Add water and tomatoes, simmer until lentils have broken down into a rough pulp.
Place two ladles of lentils, whole tomatoes and pumpkin pieces in a cup and blitz until smooth. Return to pot and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Add chopped parsley once the pot was been switched off. Season and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve hot with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.
