Meliz Berg’s winter warming Mediterranean soup
Meliz has the ultimate dish to keep you cosy in the cold…Her comforting bowl of soup. She’s paying homage to her mum's classic lentil broth, topped with halloumi and served with crunchy croutons.
Mum’s mediterranean soup
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
For the Soup:250g red lentils80g long grain white rice2 ½ litres of cold water1 chicken or vegetable stock cube400ml boiling water4 tbsp olive oil2 medium brown onions, peeled and very finely diced2-3 large thick slices of stale bread, cut into 2cm cubes200g Halloumi cheese, cut into 2cm cubes50g dry black olives60ml freshly squeezed lemon juice1 ½ tsp salt¾ tsp ground black pepper
Additional Garnishes:Pul biberDried mintLemon wedgesSea salt flakesCracked 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.