Red lentil and caramelised onion soup

I should have mentioned in the title that this soup also has a winter favourite, pumpkin.

I made this last week and ate it for three days! It perfectly matched the chilly weather we've been having. I swear this past weekend I achieved nothing except for the usual mundane house jobs. I am not sure if it actually stopped raining on Saturday. Perfect for lazing, with or without pyjamas all day, with the heating on to keep from freezing our tits off! 

We've just bought a Nintendo Switch gaming system for the kids of course, but I did waste a few hours playing Super Mario Odyssey. I am well and truly sucked in, and cannot wait to get my hands on Donkey Kong Country.

When Jake was a boy, he'd go off to school and I would sit and play with his Nintendo gameboy. Pokemon was my game of choice. I loved it.

Then when he was a little older, I would sit in his bedroom and play Doom on playstation when he was at school! 

Here I was thinking my gaming days were over!

Back to the soup...It's nice and thick so will stick to your ribs and keep you satisfied. I reserved some of the caramelised onions and used them for garnish, with toasted pumpkin seeds and feta cheese for some more flavour. 

I must say I forgot about the pumpkin seeds when they were toasting in the oven, as you do. I saved them just in the nick of time, they were crunchy and nutty, without having that obvious burnt taste. Don't forget to check your pumpkin seeds!

 Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups cubed pumpkin
5 cups water or veggie stock
375 gr bag of red lentils(McKenzies)
feta cheese, for garnish
toasted pumpkin seeds, for garnish(about a tablespoon per bowl)

How to cook your soup:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 10-15 minutes until soft and a light golden brown. Remove just under half of the onions into a bowl and set aside for the final garnish. 

Add the cumin, coriander and garlic to the saucepan with remaining onions and stir for 1 minute. Add the pumpkin, water and lentils. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 20 minutes, until the lentil are soft.

Use a stick blender to blend the soup.

When serving garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds, caramelised onion and broken up feta cheese.

If it wasn't so cold outside, I probably would have gone outside to get some fresh herbs to sprinkle on top, parsley, mint or coriander would be nice.

If you like a bit of heat, some chilli oil drizzled on top too.

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