Ok, folks, beware of the lady with the lentils!  I enjoy lentil soup so much that I decided that I would make an ethnic lentil soup every Monday until, I suppose, my husband yelled “Stop!”  So far, I have made an Indian version and this week it was a Spanish version.  I don’t know hindi, but I do speak YouTube, so I found a great channel for Indian cooking from London – so that is my source for Indian.  But, for Spanish, Italian, French, and Moroccan, which are projected for later, I can use my Spanish, Italian, and French language skills and explore what cooks in Spain, France, and Morocco are doing for lentil soup.

As usual, I read up on several versions of a recipe just to see what people do with the ingredients I want to cook with, and then I create my own.  This particular soup is very, very good.  However, it does require smoked pimentón.  Pimentón is a bit like paprika, but not quite.  If you can’t find Spanish pimentón, smoked paprika is a good substitute.

The Spanish chorizo is a dried sausage with lots of pimentón in it, and it comes vacuum packed in small sizes. It is not a refrigerated item and it will usually be displayed along with other dried sausages.  Chorizo is the Spanish word for sausage, although in some Spanish speaking countries the word chorizo can refer to a particular cut of beef.

Pimentón is somewhat like paprika.  I liked to use the smoked variety. It comes in a small can and is available at Spanish or Latin American grocery stores as well as on the Internet. 

 

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon olive oil
2. 1-2 teaspoons cumin seeds
3. 2-3 bay leaves
4. 1 medium onion
5. 4 cloves garlic
6. 4 carrots
7. 1 tomato
8. 1 large potato
9. 1 red pepper
10. 3 ounces Spanish chorizo
11. 1 cup of brown lentils
12. 1 tablespoon Spanish smoked pimentón
13. 8 cups water
14. 1 ½ teaspoons salt
15. ½ cup chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, peel and chop the carrots into ½” rounds cut the potato and the tomato in small squares, chop the red pepper, slice the chorizo.  Mince the parsley setting it aside for later.
2. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil to fragrant, and add the chopped onion and the cumin
3. Cook the onion for about 4-5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, a minute longer.
4. Add the carrots, the red pepper, the potato, tomato,  bay leaves and chorizo and stir to coat.  Add the Pimentón.
5. You may want another tablespoon of olive oil.
6. Rinse the lentils and add, stirring to coat as well as the pimentón.
   
7. Add the 8 cups of water and the salt.  Bring to a boil, and immediately reduce the heat to a high simmer.
8. Simmer the soup for about 25 minutes.
9. Remove the bay leaves. Taste. Correct the seasoning and add the chopped  parsley.Serve!