This Hairy Bikers lentil and bacon soup comes from British Classics, which claims twenty minutes. It is closer to thirty, though, once you have chopped everything. It uses red lentils, smoked back bacon, sweet potato and red pepper, and serves six at 195 calories a bowl.
British Classics calls it “central heating in a bowl”. Si made it because he wanted his mam’s ham hock and split pea soup on a weeknight. That one takes hours, so this is the fast version.
The recipe uses 1.5 litres of stock for 200g of lentils. That looks like too much liquid. It is not, because red lentils soak up a lot, so less stock gives you a stiff paste.
Hairy Bikers Lentil and Bacon Soup
Description
Smoked bacon, onion and red pepper cook together for five minutes. Then red lentils and sweet potato go in with hot stock, thyme and a bay leaf. This Hairy Bikers lentil and bacon soup is done in about half an hour.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook the bacon and veg: Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the bacon, onion and red pepper, then cook on a low heat for 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the lentils: Stir in the sweet potato, garlic and rinsed red lentils. Keep them moving for about a minute.
- Pour in the stock: Add the hot stock, thyme and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper, then bring the pan to the boil.
- Simmer: Turn the heat down to medium and cover the pan. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
- Finish: Take out the thyme and bay leaf. Serve it as it is, or blend it smooth with a stick blender.
FAQs
Why red lentils and not green or brown?
Red lentils break down as they cook, and that is what thickens this soup. Green and brown keep their shape, so they would just sit in the stock. Rinse the red ones first, since the dust on them makes the soup cloudy.
Everyday Winners explains it best, because that recipe mixes both types on purpose. Green and brown add texture, while red add body. Red lentils also need no soaking, unlike the split peas in their pea and ham soup.
Why is there sweet potato in it?
It adds sweetness. Bacon and lentils are both salty and earthy, so the soup needs something sweet to balance them.
Sweet potato also breaks down as it cooks, so it thickens the soup along with the lentils. A carrot works instead, though you lose the sweetness. Their leek and potato soup uses floury potatoes for the same job.
Can I make it without the bacon?
You can, because the recipe already lets you use vegetable stock. Take the bacon out and it is vegetarian. It will taste flatter, though, since the smoke does a lot of the work.
Hairy Bikers have three meat free lentil soups if you would rather start from one of those. Veggie Feasts does a red lentil and herb soup with lemon. One Pot Wonders does a spicy lentil and kale soup with harissa.
Why does it go so thick in the fridge?
Red lentils keep soaking up liquid after cooking. So a soup that looked right in the pan turns almost solid the next day. Their chicken noodle soup does the same, because the noodles keep drinking the broth.
Add a splash of stock or water when you reheat it, then stir until it loosens. British Classics says it freezes really well, so portion it before it goes in. It thickens in the freezer too, so expect to thin it again.
How do the two Hairy Bikers versions compare?
British Classics uses red pepper and sweet potato with 1.5 litres of stock. It serves six at about 195 calories a bowl.
Make It Easy uses carrot and celery with plain water instead. It serves four at 253 calories and takes fifty minutes, because the lentils simmer for half an hour. That one is Caribbean in style, so the book adds Scotch bonnet sauce.
