Hmmmmm, roasted peppers. Amazing how much the flavour and texture changes of a bell pepper by charring it on a flame. And it could’t be easier, just turn up the gas flame to high and lay the pepper on the flame. When one side has charred, rotate it with a pair of tongs, until all sides have charred.
When done, seal it in a tupperware box and let is steam. (It’s often also steamed in a plastic zip lock bag but I find this such a waste of plastic). After ± 5 minutes the blackened skin will just fall off easily. Sooooo good! Add this to a soup or leave it as is, and marinade in olive oil, red wine vinegar and some torn basil leaves. Hmmm, good idea, I might actually make that this week!
Not in the mood for charring it above a flame? You can also just roast large red pepper chunks in the oven for 40 minutes, see notes below!
Charred Red Bell Pepper Lentil Soup
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tbsp ras-el-hanout
- 1 can of whole tomatoes or 5 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 100 grams of red lentils (1200 gram)
- 1 large red pepper, left whole
- 0,5 liter of stock (vegetable or chicken)
- Pepper & Salt
- To serve (all optional and to your liking)
- Some old bread to make croutons
- Feta
- Koriander
- A squeeze of lemon juice
- Herb oil
Instructions
Grilled Red Peppers
Start by grilling the red pepper: turn up the gas flame to high and lay the pepper on the flame.
When one side has charred, rotate it with a pair of tongs and repeat until all sides have charred.
When done, seal it in a tupperware box and let is steam. (It's often also steamed in a plastic zip lock bag but I find this such a waste of plastic).
After ± 5 minutes the blackened skin will just fall off easily.
Roughly chop and set aside.
Soup
Add a drop of olive oil to a large sauce pan and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent and fragrant, ± 3 minutes
Add the ras-el-hanout and fry that for minute.
Add the peppers, stock, lentils and tomatoes and bring to the boil.
Let it simmer for 25 minutes and then puree it to a thick soup.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toppings
While the soup is simmering you can prep the toppings. For croutons tear up some old sliced of bread, drizzle them with olive oil an d season with pepper and salt. Bake in the oven at 220°C for ± 10 minutes until golden and crispy.
If you're in the mood for herb oil blitz some fresh herbs (e.g. basil, parsley, koriander and/or dill) together with some oil, pepper and salt until a smooth consistency.
Notes
Not in the mood to char the red peppers above a flame? You can also just add them to the soup raw if you're in a hurry, or roast them in the oven. To do that roast chop them in large chunks, divide them over a lined baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and pepper and salt and roast in a preheated oven at 220°C for 40 minutes. The edges will be starting charring and juices will start flowing. Using the baking paper to create kind of a funnel pour it all into the soup pot, juices and all!
