Recipe By: Cooks Illustrated
Serving Size: 4; Total time: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, chopped fine
- Salt and pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch cayenne
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 10 ½ ounces (1 ½ cups) red lentils, picked over and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried mint, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in broth, water, and lentils and bring to simmer.
- Simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft and about half are broken down, about 15 minutes.
- Whisk soup vigorously until it is coarsely pureed, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and extra lemon juice to taste.
- Cover and keep warm. (Soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Thin soup with water, if desired, when reheating.)
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in small skillet. Remove from heat and stir in mint and paprika.
- Ladle soup into individual bowls, drizzle each portion with 1 teaspoon spiced butter, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.
