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I am a soup person. I never used to be,
but at some point in my life, I had a total “a-ha!” moment. I realized a few
things. First, soup is delicious. Second, soup is a whole, nutritious meal in a
single bowl. Third, soup is a hearty bowl of comfort on a cold day. Fourth,
soup is the perfect vehicle for getting warm, flaky, buttery bread to your
mouth and is therefore the perfect excuse for buying said bread. Now, I spend
all winter making and eating different soups. I have a particular weakness for
lentil soup. I have yet to meet a lentil soup I didn’t like. The best thing
about lentil soup is that it is a great starting point for all sorts of flavour
combinations. Greek lentil soup? Done. Moroccan lentil soup? The best. Coconut than curry lentil soup? Obviously. I have made just about every kind of lentil
soup there is. Or, at least I thought I had. And then I went to Naji’s. Naji’s
is my favourite restaurant in Ottawa. If you are in Ottawa right now, what are
you waiting for? Get yourself to Naji’s! It is a delightful Lebanese restaurant
that serves, you guessed it, amazing lentil soup. After trying the soup, I set
out on a mission to re-create the soup at home. I would order the soup, go
home, and scrawl some notes. I have finally reached a version that is very,
very close and I just had to share it with you.
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2 Tbsp
unsalted butter
2 Tbsp
olive oil
½ large
onion, chopped
1 clove
garlic, minced
1 cup red
lentils, sorted through for bits of pebbles and rinsed thoroughly
½ cup
Arborio (or other short to medium grain) rice
1 scant
Tbsp za’atar (*see note below)
7 cups
vegetable broth
Generous
pinches salt and pepper
Juice of ½
lemon
Directions:
(1) Melt
butter and oil in large saucepot over medium heat. Add onion and cook stirring
for 5 minutes until very soft but not browned. Add garlic and cook stirring
until fragrant, 1 minute.
(2) Add
lentils and rice to pot and stir well to coat. Stir in za’atar.
(3) Add
broth and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover.
Simmer for 25 – 30 minutes until lentils are very soft and falling apart. Soup
will thicken as it cooks, so if you like a thicker soup, cook for a few minutes
longer.
(4) In last
5 minutes of cooking, add lemon juice and continue to simmer covered.
(5) Serve
with pita, pita chips or naan bread.
This would also be really good with a swirl of plain Greek yogurt
drizzled over top.
*Note –
za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice blend. I found it at a great bulk store, but
you may be able to find it in a well-stocked grocery store. You can also make
it yourself at home – Bon Appetit and Fine Cooking online both have recipes for
homemade za’atar. Use up leftover za’atar by making pita chips with it,
sprinkling it over roasted eggplant, or using it as a topping for flatbread.
