Hellimli Mercimek Çorbası (Red Lentil Soup with Hellim)
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
For the Soup:
250g red lentils
80g long grain white rice
2 ½ litres of cold water
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
400ml boiling water
4 tbsp olive oil
2 medium brown onions, peeled and very finely diced
2-3 large thick slices of stale bread, cut into 2cm cubes
200g Halloumi cheese, cut into 2cm cubes
50g dry black olives
60ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ tsp salt
¾ tsp ground black pepper
Additional Garnishes:
Pul biber
Dried mint
Lemon wedges
Sea salt flakes
Cracked black pepper
Method
1. In a sieve, wash the red lentils and rice under cold running water until the water runs clear. Add the drained rice and lentils to a large soup pan and fill with the cold water. Place the pan on a high heat and bring everything up to the boil for 5 minutes, scraping off and discarding the foam that forms on the top.
2. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water, and after 5 minutes, reduce the heat a little, add the stock to the pan of lentils, then stir and simmer on a low heat for around 25-30 mins until the soup thickens.
3. While the soup is cooking, add 3 tbsp of the olive oil to a large frying pan and place on the hob over a medium heat. Add the onions to the hot oil, sprinkle in half of the salt, turn down the heat, and soften the onions for 15-20 minutes until softened and translucent.
4. Turn the heat up a little so that the onions caramelise and turn a lovely golden-brown colour, then remove them from the pan to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Carefully give the pan a gentle wipe with some clean kitchen paper to get rid of any leftover crispy onion residue, then return the pan to the heat.
5. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan over a medium heat, and once hot, fry the cubes of Halloumi and bread, turning regularly, until golden brown all over. Add the olives to the pan and toast them for a couple of minutes too, then remove everything from the pan to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
6. Once the soup is pretty much cooked, add the freshly squeezed lemon juice, the remaining salt and ground black pepper to the soup pan, give everything a gentle stir and cook for a further minute before turning off the heat. Roughly blend the soup with a hand blender (it shouldn’t be completely smooth), or blend 1/3 of the soup in a stand-blender, then add the blended soup back to the soup pan and stir in half of the caramelised onions.
7. Serve portions of the soup with the remaining onions, the fried Halloumi, crispy croutons and black olives, a sprinkling of pul biber and dried mint and an extra squeeze of lemon juice. Season to taste with sea salt and coarse black pepper.
