Quick Bites: Smoky tomato lentil soup (serves 6)

This delicious recipe is from I Can Cook Vegan by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Abrams, £22.99

You’ll need

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt

Three cloves garlic, minced

One tsp dried thyme

Two tbsp sweet smoked paprika

190g brown or green lentils

1.2l vegetable broth

Freshly ground black pepper

680g can stewed tomatoes

80g loosely packed baby or chopped spinach

11g pitted, roughly chopped kalamata olives

Method

Preheat a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions in oil with a pinch of salt until translucent, about five minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Add the paprika, lentils, broth, half a teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to medium and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are almost tender.

Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil again, then lower to a simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the lentils are very tender. Add the spinach and olives, stirring frequently until the spinach is wilted. Add water to thin, if necessary. Taste for salt and seasoning.