Cream of (Left-Over) Mixed Vegetable and Red Lentil Soup with Shredded Brussels Sprouts Sautéed in Butter

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Loaded with an assortment of vegetables and enhanced and thickened with red lentils, this delicious and healthy soup, comes together in minutes and is cooked and ready to eat in little over half an hour. The best bit – it was made from rather sad looking, left-over vegetables found loitering in the bottom of my fridge. I simply threw everything into a pan, simmered until soft and puréed – no sweating or roasting vegetables required and hence no fat added either.

Quick, easy and very economical to make, this vegetarian soup is ideal to serve as a starter or a light lunch, with some fresh, crunchy bread, on the side.

What vegetables can I use to make this soup?

After a few days away, I came home to find a selection of rather dodgy looking vegetables in the bottom of my fridge. Home-made soup is the perfect way of using up these less than perfect and slightly old veggies. Whilst this recipe can be made with whatever you find in your fridge raid, a word of warning about the colour of your soup. Mix too many different coloured vegetables and your soup may turn brown! I had some leeks, red pepper, carrots, potatoes, onion and sprouts which I wanted to use up. In order to ensure this gorgeous orange colour, I decided not to add the sprouts. Instead, I shredded and sautéed them to serve as a garnish and add a wonderful texture contrast to this otherwise smooth and creamy soup.

Why add the lentils?

I often add lentils to soups; they up the nutrition adding protein, vitamins and fibre. Furthermore, red lentils break down well to help thicken the soup and also add a gorgeous pinky, orange hue.

How to make Cream of (Left-Over) Mixed Vegetable and Red Lentil Soup with Shredded Brussels Sprouts Sautéed in Butter

Collect all your ingredients together:

For the soup –

• mix of prepared vegetables. I used leeks, red pepper, potatoes, carrots, onion, spring onions (1kg is prepared weight)
• red lentils
• stock cubes – vegetable (or chicken)
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• water

For the Brussels Sprouts –

• Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced (350g is prepared weight)
• unsalted butter
• salt and pepper, to taste
• olive oil

Now, throw it all together:

1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
2. Make the soup: prepare your ingredients and throw into a large pan with the lentils, seasoning, stock cubes and boiling water. I used:
   • 2 1/2 leeks – trimmed, washed and sliced
   • 1 red pepper – stem and seeds removed, chopped
   • 3 potatoes – peeled and cubed
   • 5 carrots – peeled, if necessary, and roughly sliced
   • 1 onion – peeled and chopped
   • 5 spring onions – trimmed and chopped
3. Mix well and heat over a moderate temperature until gently simmering. Cook for 20 – 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables are soft and cooked through. Stir from time to time.
4. Leave to cool a little and then purée using a hand blender or in a blender or food processor.
5. Brussels sprout topping: trim and slice the Brussels sprouts.
6. Heat the butter over a moderately high heat and add the Brussels sprouts.
7. Cook until the sprouts are starting to soften and are lightly caramelised. Stir from time to time. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
8. Cook until the sprouts are starting to soften and are lightly caramelised. This should take only around 3-4 minutes. Stir from time to time and add salt and pepper, to taste.
9. Serve the soup drizzled with olive oil and topped with the Brussels sprouts, or your topping of choice. Delicious with some warm, fresh bread.

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