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Curried Red Lentil Soup

Filling and versatile enough to be served as an hors d’oeuvre or main course, Joseph Marini's Curried Red Lentil Soup is a winner.
Earthenware bowl of Curried Red Lentil soup

Photo by Heidi Harris

Humble but delicious Curried Red Lentil Soup is a simple and super-flavorful addition to your menu.

Comforting, simple, and easy to throw together, Curried Red Lentil Soup is rich with aromatics, curry, and fresh herbs.

You can serve this filling soup as the main event. Paired with a simple salad, it makes the perfect fall dinner.

It can also be served in small cups as an hors d’oeuvre at a cocktail party.

Serves 8 as a main dish

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, small dice
  • 1 leek, trimmed, washed, and diced small
  • 4 carrots, small dice
  • 3 stalks of celery, small dice
  • 2 red peppers, seeds removed, small dice
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 ounces tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 2 cups red lentils
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon white pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
  • 8 cups of hot water

Directions

1 | In a stockpot, sauté the onion, leek, carrots, and celery until translucent.

2 | Add the red pepper and garlic—sauté until the red pepper softens. Add the tomato paste and curry powder and cook for 2 minutes while stirring. You want the tomato paste to caramelize slightly, but not burn.

3 | Add the hot water, lentils, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, bay leaves, and cayenne. Let simmer for 30–40 minutes. Don’t worry that the red lentils are falling apart.

4 | Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaf and puree ¾ of the soup in a food processor until well blended. Return it to the pot and stir.

5 | Add an additional cup of hot water to loosen the soup. It should have thickness enough to coat the back of a spoon but still have a pureed soup consistency.

6 | Season with an additional teaspoon of salt and taste. Add extra salt as needed to bring out all the flavors.

See more of Joseph’s crowd-pleasing soup recipes!

Cover of MASTERING THE ART OF ENTERTAINING, by Joseph Marini, with plates and a grapefruit slice.

By Joseph Marini

Photography by Heidi Harris

Excerpted from Mastering the Art of Entertaining (SparkPress, 2023).

“I’m often asked why I love entertaining so much. It took me a long time to understand the answer to this. Fitting in, even sometimes within a family, can be difficult. By entertaining, I was allowing myself to be vulnerable enough to be seen for who I was. It allowed me to create a group of family and friends that would truly see and appreciate my authenticity. I now realize the rewards of living intentionally and opening up m home (and heart) to bring people together over food.”

Buy the book and enjoy more recipes and entertaining tips!

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