This is a quick, low calorie, gluten- and  dairy-free soup recipe that’s perfect for lunch on a cold day. The roasted red peppers give it a rich sweet flavour that goes brilliantly with red lentils and smoked paprika. If you make a big batch of the peppers you can use some for this soup and keep the rest for a luscious addition to salads, wraps and sandwiches, or a side to your dinner later in  the week. Cook once, eat twice, right?

If you don’t have any roasted peppers, fresh will do. I add 3 large deseeded, sliced red peppers to the softened onion and let them stew a bit before I throw in the lentils. The soup doesn’t have the same depth of flavour, but its still delicious.

I usually make a huge pot of this at the beginning of the week. It’s perfect for the teenager’s after-school top up, and we can grab a couple of bowls full to microwave at work.

Any leftovers go into the freezer in a tetrapak, with a smart label of course!

A bowl of soup and….?

The rest of the family, being able to gorge on wheat and dairy,  would probably opt for a warm hunk of sun-dried tomato bread, soft enough to mop up the soup but with enough crust to wipe every last drop from the bowl. And a sharp crumbly Wensleydale cheese.

Myself, I would choose a gluten free version of the tomato bread, with a thick creamy hummus to add the right amount of sharp contrast to the soft, sweet, smoky soup.

Have you tried this recipe? Comment below to let me know what you thought of it.

Or take a photo and add it to my Facebook page.

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