Sunday 12 January 2014

Lentil and vegetable potage in the slow cooker

I love making home made soup, its so comforting and ideal for a weekend lunch or for packing and taking to work. This recipe is so simple and so delicious and is so healthy too, what ever your diet this soup is for you. Potage was a medieval staple and even though I have taken some "poetic" license in including ingredients that were not available at that time, such as potatoes, onions, etc,  I think its can still be called a potage.




Lentils are used to give a smooth rib sticking velvety feel to the soup supplemented with seasonal local vegetables. I slow cooked this soup  in my slow cooker but this is not absolutely necessary and you would get the same great results on the hob.

What you need
  • 1 cup red/orange lentils
  • 1 large onion, peeled and  chopped 
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
  • 2 sticks of celery, chopped
  • 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
  • A little oil / butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Sprig of fresh rosemary
  • Small piece of pared lemon rind 
  • About 1 litre vegetable stock - this needs to be hot / boiling
  • Salt and Pepper
What you do
  • Switch on your slow cooker to pre heat
  • Heat a little oil or butter in a large pan and add the vegetables, cook for a few minutes until slightly softened
  • Place the vegetables along with the lentils, stock, herbs and lemon rind in the slow cooker
  • Cook on high for about 2 - 3 hours, until the vegetables are soft and the lentils mushy
  • Remove the bay leaves, rosemary and lemon rind
  • Process to a smooth velvety texture with a hand held blender, taste and season as appropriate, you may also want to add a little hot water or stock to thin the soup to your desired consistency.


I am using this recipe for  entry into several related blogging challenges.

Slow cooker challenge - this months theme is soup.The challenge was created and is hosted by Janice over at Farmersgirl Kitchen, I used my slow cooker to create my soup so it more than qualifies.

                                         


Cooking with herbs (theme this month is citrus) - January 2014 created and hosted by Karen over at Lavender and Lovage, the recipe features bay leaves, rosemary and lemon peel.

                                              

Simple and in Season - January 2014 created and hosted by Ren over at Renbehan.com . The recipe is a simple seasonal soup using local winter vegetables and herbs from the garden.


                                               Simple and in Season

No croutons required Vegetarian Soup and Salad challenge hosted this month by Lisa at Food and Spice, the recipe is suitable for vegetarians and could easily be made vegan by using vegetable oil rather than butter.

                                                        no croutons required logo

My Legume Love affair hosted this month by Briggishome , as the recipe uses lentils it qualifies for this challenge. The rules of which you can find here , a lovely blogging challenge created by Sue at the well seasoned cook.

                                                             JanMLLALogo201472

11 comments:

Janice said...

Lovely and warming for a cold day. Thanks for including your recipe in my Slow Cooker Challenge.

Lisa Turner said...

Beautiful soup. So warming. Thanks for your submissions.

Ren Behan said...

Perfect for a January afternoon. I love red lentils with a veggie soup and the idea of using citrus peel is a new one to me and a wonderful idea. Thank you for linking up to Simple and in Season

Choclette said...

That sounds delicious and it's a lovely colour too - never sure which is my favourite soup, lentil or squash. Having just eaten a bowl of soup for supper, I can happily say it makes a great evening meal too.

Anonymous said...

I have never tried cooking soup in a slow cooker, must do it one day. This looks really lovely and filling

Alison said...

I have never tried cooking soup in a slow cooker, must give it a try. This looks lovely and must have been filling

jamilakitchen said...

Wonderful forums

Sally - My Custard Pie said...

Potage is such a great word - it sounds comforting even before you stick a spoon in. Interesting use of a slow cooker.

Karen S Booth said...

I LOVE potage and especially when they have pulses in them, a fabulous soup and entry for Cooking with Herbs thanks!

Anonymous said...

Lovely recipe!
Thank you for submitting it to MLLA.
the round up is online!
http://briggishome.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/mlla-67-the-round-up-en/
baciusss

Simona Carini said...

Sounds lovely. I have not made lentil soup in a while and your recipe is a great suggestion.

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