Butternut Squash & Lentil Soup

Butternut squash and lentil soup is a rich and filling dish that is light in calories and full of healthy goodness. It is simple to make and delicious to eat!

How good are lentils?  As much protein as beef - but a tiny fraction of the saturated fat - and a trillion times more fibre?

100g of Red Split Lentils has:

25g of protein (beef has 26g of protein)

10.5g of fibre (there is no dietary fibre in beef)

2.2g of fat (of which 0.3g is saturated fat) - beef has 5 times for fat and 20 times more saturated fat

Note: I have assumed cooked, lean beef. Fattier forms of beef are worse. Also, I am assuming a good quality red split lentil.

Step 1: Put the oven on 200 degrees centigrade. And prepare a backing tray (ideally, use baking paper to line the tray).

Step 2. Chop 200g of onions into small pieces and caramelise in 50g of Serriana olive oil and a dash of white wine vinegar. Heat a large frying pan and place the olive oil in the pan. After a couple of minutes, add the chopped onions. 

Then, lower the heat, stir and  add the dash of white wine vinegar. Place a lid on the onions and keep them moist - so that they begin to caramelise. This could take 15 to 20 minutes depending on how dry your onions are.

Step 3. Peel and then chop 500g of butternut squash or pumpkin into small cubes. Place them in the baking tray. Then cover them in olive oil and rosemary leaves and add a pinch of salt and two pinches of ground pepper

Step 4. Once the onions are turning soft and slightly browned, add 150g of red split lentils and 1 litre of vegetable stock to the large pan. Slowly simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 5. At the same time, place the tray of prepared butternut squash or pumpkin into the oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade. Turn once after about 15 minutes.

Step 6. Add the roasted butternut squash to the lentils and onions and simmer together for 5 minutes.

This butternut squash and lentil soup looks great in a  clean white bowl! You can top with a drizzle of Serriana olive oil to give it an extra shine and richness of flavour.

This soup is quite dense and filling - so, unless you are very hungry, you won't need bread or anything to accompany it.

You can preserve this soup in the fridge for 3 or 4 days afterwards.

Did you enjoy the butternut squash red lentil recipe? If so, why not check out more olive oil recipes here?

Fun Fact: Canada is the biggest producer of lentils and that this crop is as old as agriculture itself? Check out its Wikipedia page for more.