Lentil and bacon Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Large onion (finely chopped)
• 4 Cloves of garlic (Chopped)
• 500g carrots (chopped)
• 500g Tomatoes (Skinned and chopped)
• 500g Red lentils
• 250g Bacon (Chopped)
• 50ml Tomato purée
• 30ml Curry powder
• 1 desert spoon of ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 litres Vegetable stock
• Generous amount of olive or vegetable oil

Method

1. Skin the tomatoes using boiling water and then roughly chop. Chop the onion, garlic, carrots and bacon.
2. Make up the vegetable stock in a pan so it’s hot and ready to add to the soup.
3. Take a large saucepan with a heavy base and add enough oil to well cover the base. Heat this up and then add the curry powder.
4. After a minute add the bacon, let that start frying and then add the onions and garlic. Keep stirring for a minute so nothing sticks.
5. Then add the chopped carrots, tomatoes, tomato puree and lentils. Stir around to coat everything and add the cayenne and black pepper.
6. Pour on the stock and add the salt. With some stock cubes you may find they’re salty enough anyway. Best to be cautious as you can add more seasoning at the end if needed.
7. Bring to boil and then turn the heat right down, put a lid on the pan and simmer for about half an hour until the lentils are mushy.
8. Mix with a hand-held blender in the pan or use a food processor. If it’s too thick for you, add some more stock to thin out.

Serves 10