Being a full time teacher and a Mum, time is a very precious commodity! I love cooking but often get home from work and want to spend time with my family rather than in the kitchen. This soup is great as you can make it when you have the time and then reheat it when needed. The prep is a bit time consuming but once it’s done you have enough for 6 good servings. Dairy free, gluten free, vegan and delicious!
Ingredients
- Half a cup of green lentils
- 1kg tomotoes
- 1.5 diced onions
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- Half a teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
- Black pepper
- Half a cup of fresh basil (plus extra for garnish)
Method
- Add the lentils to a large pan of boiling water and boils for 25 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside for later.
- Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and cover with water for 30 seconds before draining, peeling, deseeding and chopping them.
- Put the slow cooker on high and add the diced onions, tomatoes, tomato purée, vegetable stock, bay leaf, chilli flakes if using and black pepper. Cover and leave to cook for 2.25 hours.
- Remove the bay leaf and purée the soup until smooth. Add the lentils and chopped basil before stirring and heating again.
- To serve add basil garnish to each bowl.
Handy hint: If you’ve got kids get them involved in peeling and deseeding the tomatoes, they’ll love getting messy and because it’s all going to be a purée it doesn’t matter if the tomatoes get a bit “scrunched”.
Free From Family 