Red lentil and chorizo soup

I found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website and just wanted to post it as it is probably one of my favourite soups, maybe second only to my Oma’s lentil soup, a family recipe from my husband’s side passed down through generations! I have tweaked the recipe here and there but have linked the original for your reference.

Serves 6

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

Ingredients for chorizo and red lentil soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 250g cooking chorizo, peeled and diced quite small about 5mm square or a bit less

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 carrots, chopped

• pinch of cumin seeds

• 4 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• pinch of golden caster sugar

• small splash red wine vinegar

• 250g red lentil

• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomato

• 850ml chicken stock

• plain yogurt, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in the pan on a medium heat and add the chorizo and cook until it darkens and crisps up and its oils  are released. Remove the chorizo and set aside on a plate.

2. On a low heat fry the chopped onions and carrots along with the cumin in the residual oil for about 10 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute or two.

4. Add the paprika and sugar and cook for about a minute then add the vinegar and allow to simmer.

5. Add the lentils, tomatoes and the chicken stock and stir.

6. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender, stir from time to time to make sure the lentils don’t catch on the bottom of the pan.

7. Take off the heat, add about ½ the chorizo in to the pot then blitz with a hand blender until the soup is smooth , if necessary, add some water to the soup , you may find it is otherwise a bit too thick.

8. Serve in bowls with a drizzle of yoghurt if you like and an extra dash of paprika.

9. Add some chorizo pieces scattered on top.