Despite its murky look -- lentils and pumpkin do not really combine well visually -- this was a yummy, healthy, and surprisingly filling soup. Lots of fiber, very little fat, and tons of flavor. The sour cream was really not necessary, and the pumpkin oil, while definitely boosting flavor, could be skipped were one were watching one's fat intake and substituted for chopped Italian parsley. I blitzed half the soup until it was smooth and kept the rest chunky but a completely smooth soup would also work.r
1 cup brown lentils
2 cups pumpkin or squash flesh (I microwaved a CSA box squash and used its flesh but canned pumpkin would work well too)
1 yellow or white onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsps tomato paste
6-8 cups water, vegetable, or chicken stock
2 tsps cumin
2 tsps smoked paprika
2 tsps olive oil
Juice from one lemon
Salt to taste
In a large stockpot, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste and bay leaf. Cook, stirring, until the onion has started to soften and the tomato paste has darkened in color, a few minutes.
Add the lentils and stir to coat them with the onion mixture, before adding 6 cups of the liquid. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook until the lentils are tender, 18-20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf. Using either a blender or immersion blender, blitz the lentils (or half the lentils for a chunky soup) along with their cooking liquid with all of the remaining ingredients except for the lemon juice. If the mixture is too thick, add some of the remaining 2 cups of liquid to thin the soup out until you reach the consistency that you prefer.
Heat the soup through again. Stir in the lemon juice and adjust for seasoning should you need more salt. Garnish the soup as described above.
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