Turkish Red Lentil Soup With Mint Recipes

TURKISH LENTIL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot, add butter and olive oil and saute chopped onion and red bell pepper until pepper is tender, about 5-8 minutes. Then add chopped garlic and saute until caramelized, about 1-2 minutes.
• Next, add dried mint, paprika and Turkish red pepper (or you can substitute regular red pepper and stir spices together in the oil
• Stir in the tomato paste, chopped tomato and lemon zest. Stir everything together and season with salt and pepper. Allow the tomatoes to cook for 1-2 minutes to soften.
• Next, add dried red lentils, white rice and red quinoa (or you have another type of quinoa, that's fine too). Stir all the grains together so the flavors are tossed with the rice and quinoa.
• Add 8 cups of vegetable broth and bring soup to a boil Cook the soup for about 30 minutes until rice, lentils and quinoa are tender. Taste for doneness and seasoning.
• Once soup is cooked, you can use an immersion blender to puree some of the soup for a better texture. Garnish with a squeeze of lemon, olive oil, fresh herbs.

TURKISH RED LENTIL 'BRIDE' SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Cook the onions in the hot butter until they are golden brown, about 15 minutes.
• Stir the paprika, lentils, and bulgur into the onions and coat with the butter.
• Add the tomato paste, vegetable stock, and cayenne pepper; bring to a boil and cook until soft and creamy, about 1 hour.
• Crumble the dried mint leaves into the soup; stir the soup and remove from heat.
• Ladle into bowls and garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint to serve.