It’s been a while since I have posted a recipe, and yet this is my real passion. This doesn’t mean to say I haven’t been cooking and experimenting, I have, but just haven’t got around to posting any of the recipes.
Those of you who follow No Waste Tastes Great, will know that last Thursday in anticipation of having some tomatoes left over (from a very kind donation) I made a slow-cooked tomato soup which was lovely! It’s the first time I had made it without lentils, yet it was still fantastic. Really tasty, which I am sure was down to the ‘homegrown’ element of the ingredients. Plus they were donated, which means they didn’t cost a penny. At the risk of sounding like Ebenezer Scrooge – that made them taste even better! 🙂
Upon doing my meal plan last week, and then my grocery shop I had planned in a tomato soup for this Thursday coming. Thursday night is my 10k run night in training for the half marathon (just 4 weeks away now…). Soup is a great dinner as it digests well and doesn’t induce stitch!
However, the market stall I buy my produce from didn’t have any suitable tomatoes, so I purchased carrots instead for my favourite soup.
It must have been fate, as Sunday I got a text from my good friend Running_Mum who claimed she had a ‘EU Mountain of Cherry Tomatoes’ which her Hubby had grown this year. Despite making Chutney and Ragu for the freezer, she still had an abundance. Yay! I had toms, and lots of them!
Simply Smouldering Cherry Tomato, Chilli & Lentil Soup – Slow-cooked of course!
(This isn’t the soup I made last Thursday – I’ll post that in the future)
*I’ve actually entered this recipe in a competition being held in the UK by “New Covent Garden” for their Valentines Soup 2012. The winner gets their recipe on supermarket shelves next year. I would love it to be me, so if you can spare a few minutes to follow this link and vote for me I would be so appreciative! Thank you!*
Ingredients:
- 450g (1lb) Cherry Tomatoes (Halved)
- 150g (1/3 lb) Sundried Tomatoes (Sliced)
- 150g (1/3 lb) Dried Red Lentils
- 2 Garlic Cloves (Crushed)
- 1 Teaspoon (5ml) Chilli Powder (Strength dependent on taste – I used ‘Hot’ and it had a real kick, which I like! Bear this in mind, perhaps start with 1/2 teaspoon if unsure, or use mild *update 26/09 I did a second batch of this for a friend and used 1/2 teaspoon and it actually tasted better with less chilli)
- 1 Teaspoon (5ml) Cumin Powder
- 1 Teaspoon (5ml) Dried Basil
- 1 x Medium Onion (Finely diced)
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) Tomato Puree
- 900ml (1+1/2 Pints) Hot Vegetable Stock
- Blackpepper to season
- Rinse and drain the Dried Lentils. Then boil rapidly for 10 minutes. When cooked re-rinse and then leave to drain whilst you prepare the other ingredients.
- Wash and halve the Cherry Tomatoes and pop in slow-cooker.
- Add the sliced Sundried Tomatoes. If using tomatoes out of a jar make sure you drain the oil.
- Add the crushed Garlic Cloves, the Chilli and Cumin Powder.
- Add the finely diced Onion and the Basil.
- Add the Tomato Puree and the cooked Red Lentils stir well.
- Pour over the Hot Vegetable Stock, add some Blackpepper to season and stir well again ensuring all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
- Place lid on the standard Slow-Cooker – ensuring there is at least 1″ at the top without liquid/ingredients.
- Leave for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low
- When cooked blend carefully with a hand-blender to desired consistency.
*Don’t forget that as tempting as it may be to lift the lid and have a stir or a sniff of the lovely aroma, that every time you do it will increase cooking time by 20 minutes. Reduce the need to stir by always ensuring that you have stirred well when adding everything initially.
** Please note that I am not a qualified nutritionist or professional cook. My recipes are what I put together at home and all amounts etc… are approximate. What I write is my own experience of cooking the recipe. Ovens and ingredients do vary – just go with it, have fun and apply common sense at all times! Practise makes perfect!
It looks lovely! Will definitely be trying this as a variant on my own spicy lentil soup. Can never have enough of them.
Voted for you. 🙂
Thanks so much for the vote Lauren – I’m currently joint 3rd with 17 votes but way behind leader 🙂
If ever you want to share your spicy lentil soup recipe, you know where I am – would love to try it out!
Have a lovely day
Sure, I’ll share because all I did was take my favourite lentil soup recipe and then add a good pinch of chilli flakes. Lifts it right up, delicious! I leave out the bacon half the time, only add if I have some streaky ends to use up – DH only likes the rounds on back bacon so always have ends leftover when we have bacon in.
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/282053/Lentil-and-bacon-soup
Thanks Lauren – will be checking this out!
It looks lovely! Will definitely be trying this as a variant on my own spicy lentil soup. Can never have enough of them.
Voted for you. 🙂
Thanks so much for the vote Lauren – I’m currently joint 3rd with 17 votes but way behind leader 🙂
If ever you want to share your spicy lentil soup recipe, you know where I am – would love to try it out!
Have a lovely day
Sure, I’ll share because all I did was take my favourite lentil soup recipe and then add a good pinch of chilli flakes. Lifts it right up, delicious! I leave out the bacon half the time, only add if I have some streaky ends to use up – DH only likes the rounds on back bacon so always have ends leftover when we have bacon in.
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/282053/Lentil-and-bacon-soup
Thanks Lauren – will be checking this out!
It looks lovely! Will definitely be trying this as a variant on my own spicy lentil soup. Can never have enough of them.
Voted for you. 🙂
Thanks so much for the vote Lauren – I’m currently joint 3rd with 17 votes but way behind leader 🙂
If ever you want to share your spicy lentil soup recipe, you know where I am – would love to try it out!
Have a lovely day
Sure, I’ll share because all I did was take my favourite lentil soup recipe and then add a good pinch of chilli flakes. Lifts it right up, delicious! I leave out the bacon half the time, only add if I have some streaky ends to use up – DH only likes the rounds on back bacon so always have ends leftover when we have bacon in.
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/282053/Lentil-and-bacon-soup
Thanks Lauren – will be checking this out!
I’m new to slow cooking and in your recipes you refer to a standard slow cooker. Is this a 4 or 6 quart/litre size? Thanks for your soup recipes. They sound great and I will definitely be trying them out.
Hi Kendra – Lovely to see you here! My standard slow cookers hold 3 litres (or maybe 3.5) inside the pot. However I reckon a 4 litre would be fine, my friend has one that is 4.5 and we have done similar recipes and quantities. Please bear in mind that the larger the slow cooker the quicker it cooks if you do not increase the ingredients, but I personally have only experienced that being a problem when I’ve used Big Ben my 6.5 litre cooker – boy he can be fierce! Not so-slow, slow-cooker on those occasions.
My recommendation is to fill your cooker to two-thirds full when you do a general recipe. So if the quantities I have suggested fall short, add some extra liquid, or vegetables and liquid if you want to keep the thickness. With soup you can fill a cooker up to an inch away from the top, but I allow a little more room usually. If making soup it’s unlikely you will ruin or burn the recipe if you have less ingredients than the cooker requires due to the amount of fluid in it anyway. It’s more likely a bolognese or chilli would burn.
As with most things practise makes perfect 🙂
Let me know how it goes! Good Luck!
I’m new to slow cooking and in your recipes you refer to a standard slow cooker. Is this a 4 or 6 quart/litre size? Thanks for your soup recipes. They sound great and I will definitely be trying them out.
Hi Kendra – Lovely to see you here! My standard slow cookers hold 3 litres (or maybe 3.5) inside the pot. However I reckon a 4 litre would be fine, my friend has one that is 4.5 and we have done similar recipes and quantities. Please bear in mind that the larger the slow cooker the quicker it cooks if you do not increase the ingredients, but I personally have only experienced that being a problem when I’ve used Big Ben my 6.5 litre cooker – boy he can be fierce! Not so-slow, slow-cooker on those occasions.
My recommendation is to fill your cooker to two-thirds full when you do a general recipe. So if the quantities I have suggested fall short, add some extra liquid, or vegetables and liquid if you want to keep the thickness. With soup you can fill a cooker up to an inch away from the top, but I allow a little more room usually. If making soup it’s unlikely you will ruin or burn the recipe if you have less ingredients than the cooker requires due to the amount of fluid in it anyway. It’s more likely a bolognese or chilli would burn.
As with most things practise makes perfect 🙂
Let me know how it goes! Good Luck!
I’m new to slow cooking and in your recipes you refer to a standard slow cooker. Is this a 4 or 6 quart/litre size? Thanks for your soup recipes. They sound great and I will definitely be trying them out.
Hi Kendra – Lovely to see you here! My standard slow cookers hold 3 litres (or maybe 3.5) inside the pot. However I reckon a 4 litre would be fine, my friend has one that is 4.5 and we have done similar recipes and quantities. Please bear in mind that the larger the slow cooker the quicker it cooks if you do not increase the ingredients, but I personally have only experienced that being a problem when I’ve used Big Ben my 6.5 litre cooker – boy he can be fierce! Not so-slow, slow-cooker on those occasions.
My recommendation is to fill your cooker to two-thirds full when you do a general recipe. So if the quantities I have suggested fall short, add some extra liquid, or vegetables and liquid if you want to keep the thickness. With soup you can fill a cooker up to an inch away from the top, but I allow a little more room usually. If making soup it’s unlikely you will ruin or burn the recipe if you have less ingredients than the cooker requires due to the amount of fluid in it anyway. It’s more likely a bolognese or chilli would burn.
As with most things practise makes perfect 🙂
Let me know how it goes! Good Luck!
Yum, yum, yum! I’m trying this recipe this week! 🙂
It really is tasty Jenny – I’m making some more today. I’d suggest altering recipe to half a teaspoon of chilli based on feedback I’ve had unless you really like food with a kick (which I do!)…. let me know what you think? You could also omit lentils and reduce liquid or increase toms…
I didn’t have any chili powder, so I just added some red pepper instead. 🙂
And I wouldn’t want to leave out the red lentils! Those are my favorite part.
It’s simmering away right now. I can’t wait to have it for dinner tonight.
Jenny you’ll have to let me know how it goes! 🙂
Yum, yum, yum! I’m trying this recipe this week! 🙂
It really is tasty Jenny – I’m making some more today. I’d suggest altering recipe to half a teaspoon of chilli based on feedback I’ve had unless you really like food with a kick (which I do!)…. let me know what you think? You could also omit lentils and reduce liquid or increase toms…
I didn’t have any chili powder, so I just added some red pepper instead. 🙂
And I wouldn’t want to leave out the red lentils! Those are my favorite part.
It’s simmering away right now. I can’t wait to have it for dinner tonight.
Jenny you’ll have to let me know how it goes! 🙂
Yum, yum, yum! I’m trying this recipe this week! 🙂
It really is tasty Jenny – I’m making some more today. I’d suggest altering recipe to half a teaspoon of chilli based on feedback I’ve had unless you really like food with a kick (which I do!)…. let me know what you think? You could also omit lentils and reduce liquid or increase toms…
I didn’t have any chili powder, so I just added some red pepper instead. 🙂
And I wouldn’t want to leave out the red lentils! Those are my favorite part.
It’s simmering away right now. I can’t wait to have it for dinner tonight.
Jenny you’ll have to let me know how it goes! 🙂
I’m doing this because I have a mountain of cherry toms to use AND a huge potful of home-dried cherry toms that I don’t know what to do with. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Hope you enjoy the recipe – please let me know how it goes?
I’m doing this because I have a mountain of cherry toms to use AND a huge potful of home-dried cherry toms that I don’t know what to do with. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Hope you enjoy the recipe – please let me know how it goes?
I’m doing this because I have a mountain of cherry toms to use AND a huge potful of home-dried cherry toms that I don’t know what to do with. Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Hope you enjoy the recipe – please let me know how it goes?