Lentil Soup

On Thursday I made Roasted Pepper Red Lentil Soup.

ROASTED PEPPER AND RED LENTIL SOUP
Ingredients
2 red peppers *
200 g red lentils (about 3/4 a cup)
500 ml vegetable stock (about 2 cups)
red wine vinegar
1 onion
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
parsley/coriander **
2 bay leaves
tablespoon red pesto ***
salt and pepper
Method:
Halve and seed each pepper and grill under a hot grill until the skin starts to blister and blacken.  Remove, pop them into a ziploc bag and let them sweat for about 10 minutes.  You should then be able to pull the skin off easily.

 

Sauté the chopped onion in some olive oil until translucent, add the vegetable stock, lentils and the two bay leaves and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Add the peppers and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Allow the soup to cool, remove the bay leaves and puree with a wand mixer until smooth and creamy. You can also press it through a fine sieve if you want it smoother, but I liked the fact that the soup had some texture.
Check for seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed and add some red wine vinegar for a little tartness.   (You can also add  a tablespoon of red pesto for flavour.)
Serve with shaved Parmesan and decorate with some parsley or coriander leaves.

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* I used a red bell pepper and a yellow bell pepper, because that's what was available.  I thought it tasted fine.

** I didn't use either, but I think some fresh cilantro would've been really yummy in it.

*** I couldn't find red pesto, so I just used the regular green basil pesto.

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On a scale of -5 through 5, Jesse gave it a 4.