Mummy's Lentil Soup

As a salute to The Mighty Boosh, here is a lovely yummy recipe for the lentil soup that my mum has been making for years. My whole family were dragged up on it. It's tasty, almost criminally simple to make, pretty healthy and really cheap. There are two methods for cooking it, microwave and stove-top, either is good but I prefer the stove; there's nothing quite like the feeling you get from stirring away at a large vat of soup. It makes you feel very capable, even if it's a bit of self delusion.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
2 tbsp oil
100g red lentils
800ml vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 cumin
salt
Optional- chilli powder, however much you like.

Microwave
Put the onion, carrot and celery in a large microwave bowl with the oil and cook for 4-5 minutes on high. When all the vegetables are tender, add the lentils, bay leaf and spices and cover with 550mls of stock. Don't salt the lentils as they can become a bit tough and some pre-prepared stocks can be far saltier than truly necessary. Cook for 12-15 minutes on high, or until the lentils can be squashed with the back of a spoon.

Stove
Sweat the onion, carrot and celery with the oil until tender, but don't brown them. Add the lentils, spices and stock and cook for 20-30 until lentils are squashable.

Finishing off for both methods
Blitz the mixture using a liquidiser or hand blender. I use the latter which avoids the whole scary explosion possibilities of a jug liquidiser and saves on washing up. Once this is nicely blended, you can add the remaining stock and heat through. If you prefer a thicker, more dhal like consistency then leave it as it is.

You can add some double cream or creme fraiche to serve. If you had some streaky bacon you could cook it until it's very crispy, then crumble it over as you would with croutons. (Crunchy friends in a liquid broth.) Or just eat it as it is with delicious bread and butter.