Lucious, Luxurious Lamb and Lentils

I have been looking forward to this soup since  I decided to make it, earlier this week. It is one I have made before at home, and I multiplied the quantities by one and a half to make seven portions, which is enough for my week of meals. The name of the recipe is Lamb, Lentil and Chilli Soup, and there aren't really many more ingredients! Just celery, carrots, onion and stock. Oh, and ground cumin and coriander. But that still isn't many.

What looks like industrial quantities of vegetables!

My lovely browned lamb. I'm glad I took the time to brown it properly in batches, I do think it's worth it. This may not look like a lot for seven people, but the lentils and vegetables more than make up the amount so it does go quite far. I browned the lamb in chilli oil as the only chilli in the original recipe was the garnish. I'm not sure that it made a huuuuge amount of difference, but it's been quite a while since I made it so I don't know. Oh well, I'll just have to make it again soon with plain oil to conmpare...

The vegetables softening.

So. Close!

About half way through cooking.

Garnished with parsley, a blob of natural yoghurt and a blob of chilli paste.

 

 

I love this soup. As it simmers for an hour and twenty minutes, you occasionally give it a 'mash', so it is pretty much smooth by the time it's done. But, there is the lamb, and of course, you can probably see in the photo that not all the lentils are mashed. I wouldn't want it to be totally smooth anyway, the bite of the lentils is good. Next to the tender lamb, and the velvety spiced pureé of the smooth vegetables, this really does make for a very special dish.