This Moroccan Lentil and Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup recipe combines lentils, yellow pepper, carrots, onion and Moroccan spices for a delicious hot meal!
When I got home from work tonight I felt kind of sad that my husband wasn’t going to be home for dinner and I didn’t have anyone to cook for. I was toying with the idea of hitting up the food cart pod near our house when the dog started whining to be let outside. I opened up the front door and found a package from Amazon.
I LOVE getting things in the mail.
I saw the Amazon box I found on my doorstep: I was so excited. I brought the box inside to see if everything I ordered was there. Inside I found a creme brulee torch (hallelujah!), a mango splitter (which I already have BIG plans for), and an immersion blender. Yes, it was all there, so I started tearing open the package containing the immersion blender.
I skipped over to the fridge and pantry and pulled out lentils (I’m on a lentil kick lately, so sue me), garlic, carrots, an onion, a yellow pepper, and some Moroccan spices and went to work.
Into a pot went some oil, garlic, carrots, and onion and under the broiler went the yellow pepper. Next came the lentils and the Moroccan spices (nutmeg, cumin, coriander, allspice, ginger, cayenne, and cinnamon)…
… which I like to keep in this nifty little jar I found at an estate sale for fifty cents. Isn’t it cute?
At this point I noticed some smoke coming out of the back of my stove and thought, huh, that’s weird – OH NO THE PEPPERS!
Don’t worry, the peppers were fine. Just a little charred, which is what I was going for anyway. I chopped them up, added them to the mix, and brought the whole mixture and a few cups of water to a boil. I let it simmer until the lentils were practically mush and the carrots could be mashed with a fork, then used the immersion blender to puree it into a creamy roasted yellow pepper soup.
Okay, I know you’re probably looking at this picture thinking that it is the ugliest soup you’ve ever seen, and you probably aren’t wrong. Soup is notoriously hard to photograph, but you’ll just have to trust me that this DOES taste good! I’m thinking next time I might go with red lentils and red pepper instead of brown lentils and yellow pepper to try to get a better color. Maybe a bit of paprika and turmeric will help it out as well!
What’s that? The beautiful glass of breathtaking yumminess posing behind the soup? Oh that’s just some homemade Moroccan Mint Tea. I drank FOUR glasses of this stuff and then couldn’t sleep from all the sugar.
Here’s the Recipe!
Moroccan Lentil and Roasted Yellow Pepper Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils
- 2 carrots - finely chopped
- 1 onion - diced
- 1 bell pepper - quartered
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- 1 Tbsp. oil
- 1 Tbsp. Moroccan Spices - or to taste
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 cups of water
Instructions
- Place your quartered bell pepper on a baking sheet and place under your oven’s broiler for 3-5 minutes on high, turning once or twice. Once roasted, remove from oven and chop.
- Meanwhile, heat a 3-quart or larger dutch oven over medium-high heat and add your oil. Saute garlic for 30 seconds or until fragrant, then add your carrots and onion. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add chopped roasted bell pepper to the mixture.
- Stir in your lentils and Moroccan spices and stir to combine. Let cook for 60 seconds, stirring occasionally, to toast the spices.
- Add your water and bring the contents to a boil. Let boil for 2-3 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are very soft (they may break out of their skins). Check the lentils about 15 minutes in to see if they need more water.
- Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender), puree the contents until creamy and smooth. You may need to add more water to get this the right consistency – you want it to be a soup, not re-fried lentils!
- Taste and adjust seasonings and salt. Serve with Moroccan Mint Tea and garlic bread (seriously, don’t skimp on the garlic bread!)
RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS
