A traditional Saturday dinnertime fare is soup. In almost every single Jamaican household I’ve been to (yaad and foreign), on a Saturday you don’t have to second-guess what’s on the menu. There’s a wide range of soups locals enjoy: red peas, gungo peas, chicken foot and pumpkin soup are just a few. Last week Saturday, I got a hankering for soup a serious, honest-to-hungry-belly, gnawing in my tummy feeling for soup. The problem is, my helper (bless her heart) was preparing soup in her typical fashion (like many other Jamaicans) thickened with cornstarch/flour and made with high-sodium Cock Soup mix – not in my belly. I enjoy lentil soup with a passion and decided that it would be lunch and dinner on Saturday last.

So, without further ado here’s my Lentil Soup Recipe in 10 easy steps! (I apologize in advance if the recipe doesn’t quite read like what you’d find in a cookbook; I’m not a recipe writer nor am I a professional chef, lol )

Here’s what you need:

Main ingredients:

• 1 cup green lentils (I got mine from Natural Health in Orchid Village, Liguanea – however I’ve seen them in most supermarkets)
• ½ a pumpkin (purchased from the market ladies who hang out at the Scotiabank ATM in Barbican Centre then boiled it when I got home!)
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 Scotch Bonnet pepper (or German pepper if you’re into that)
• 1 tbsp Coconut milk (or coconut milk powder)

Chicken Stock:

• 2 pieces of chicken breast (or leg/thigh/foot/neck – it’s entirely up to you)
• 5 cups of water

Optional:

• A blender or food processor
• Yam
• Potatoes
• Flour and salt for making dumplings
• Salt and ground black pepper (to taste)

Method:

Soaking my lentils!

1. A quick note here about lentils. If you’re familiar with cooking with peas, you’ll notice that if you don’t soak them for a few hours, they tend to take longer to cook! I soaked my lentils overnight – why? Because I like my lentils squishy – they break down nicely in the soup and add body and texture to your soup *winning*

2. In a large pot (lol, I’ve always wanted to type that!) bring the 5 cups of water to a boil.

Chicken breasts boiling to make chicken stock (I added garlic salt just to taste)

3. Add the two pieces of chicken once the water has started boiling and cook for approximately 1 hour. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the water and set the water aside – you’ve just made chicken stock!

4. Add your lentils to the chicken stock and cook on medium heat for approximately 15 minutes.

The pumpkin's a-boiling!

5. Boil the ½ a pumpkin in just enough water to cover it properly – I like to cut mine into big chunks so that the cook-time is shortened. Once the pumpkin is boiled, remove from the water and allow to cool. If you’re in a rush and your stomach is speaking in tongues, you can rinse the pumpkin off with cool water.

Scraping out the LAST bit of pureed pumpkin!

6. Add the cooled pumpkin to your blender/food processor with your onion and the clove of garlic (you may have to chop it, depending on how strong your blender/food processor is!). If you don’t have either appliance, grab a fork and mash that pumpkin until it resembles baby food!

7. Once your pumpkin, onion and garlic have been pureed, gradually add mixture and coconut milk to your pot of cooking lentils. A note here: if you want a HEARTY soup, ensure that your pumpkin-to-stock ratio is in favour of the pumpkin!

Yummy, nice and thick - without the help of flour!

8. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover pot, stirring occasionally.

9. After 10 minutes – or thereabout – you may add your Scotch Bonnet pepper (I stab mine with a fork and add it LAST because I tend to accidentally burst the pepper in my soup pots while stirring. You can add it earlier in the preparation process if you’re more skilled, lol)

10. After another 10 minutes, your soup is good to go! Enjoy!

Suggested sides:

• Roasted garlic Pita Bread
• Toast
• Crackers (Water or cream!)
• Melba Toast

A note here: I opted not to include yam, potatoes, dumplings or chicken in this recipe because – well, I didn’t feel like it J. But you CAN add your yam and potatoes to the pot in which you’re boiling your pumpkin. Just be sure to remove the yam and potatoes from the pot before you dump its contents into your blender/food processor.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy the recipe. If you’ve tried it, or have more suggestions, let me know!