Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / NaBloPoMo 2008 / Ronel’s roasted pepper and red lentil soup

Ronel’s roasted pepper and red lentil soup

by Jeanne Horak on November 10, 2008 20 Comments in NaBloPoMo 2008, Soup, Vegetarian

Red-pepper-lentil-soup

The saga continues.

Remember back in the summer we had issues with our gas supply?  Three different companies (the meter installers, the gas suppliers and the boiler fixers) all had to come on separate visits to tut-tut, shake heads and say noooo, there is a gas leak and I’m afraid we have to leave your gas (and therefore your hot water and central heating!) off.  We can’t look at x-type problems, only y-type, so you’ll have to call somebody else.  And after a lot of buck-passing, a technician finally checked out the boiler, pronounced it safe all along and reconnected the gas after 3 days of cold showers.

So this morning the gas man came for the annual safety inspection and started exactly the same panic all over again.  It was like some sort of gassy Groundhog Day. 

“Oooh, it’s leaking. Turn off the gas.”

“Yes, but I don’t smell gas.”

“No, just look at this metering device thingy of mine, the pressure is just plummeting.”

“Yes, but my gas bill is no higher than it’s always been – surely I’d notice?”

“Well, who knows but I still have to turn your gas off.  It’s procedure, innit? And since you don’t smell gas in the house, there is probably a leak in the pipe.  Which runs inside your kitchen wall, so they’ll have to open up the side of the house.”

Can you see the vein in the middle of my forehead throbbing with the effort of not doing some serious damage to this man with his own wrench?

If I hadn’t been through the entire story before, I would probably have said “a leak?  Clearly you know best – shut off the gas and I’ll get the gas suppliers in”.  But as it was, I’d been there, done that, and had the cold shower, so I asked him nicely but firmly to keep testing till he could say with 100% certainty where the leak was.

The long and the short of it is that he finally traced the leak to the (ancient) wall-mounted boiler rather than the pipes (phew!) but still had to shut off the gas supply until he can return tomorrow.  So now I have a working washing machine but no hot water and no central heating.  But at least I’ll have clean blankets to pile on my bed tonight as I shiver my way to dreamland 😉

Given the above (plus another visit this evening from Tree-Hating Psycho Neighbour), is it any wonder that I feel in need of comforting?  And for that I had to look no further than Ronel’s lovely site.  Her food is always down to earth and satisfying, but presented with an artist’s flair for detail and interspersed with stories of her life in France.  This soup is like a hug in a bowl – perfect for put-upon folk like me who are trying to warm up without the benefit of heating or a hot bath.  Try it and feel comforted – thanks Ronel!

ROASTED PEPPER AND RED LENTIL SOUP

Ingredients

2 red peppers
200 g red lentils
500 ml vegetable stock
red wine vinegar
1 onion
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
parsley/coriander
2 bay leaves
tablespoon red pesto
salt and pepper

Method:

Halve and seed each pepper and grill under a hot grill until the skin starts to blister and blacken.  Remove, pop them into a ziploc bag and let them sweat for about 10 minutes.  You should then be able to pull the skin off easily.

Sauté the chopped onion in some olive oil until translucent, add the vegetable stock, lentils and the two bay leaves and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Add the peppers and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Allow the soup to cool, remove the bay leaves and puree with a wand mixer until smooth and creamy. You can also press it through a fine sieve if you want it smoother, but I liked the fact that the soup had some texture.

Check for seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed and add some red wine vinegar for a little tartness.   (You can also add  a tablespoon of red pesto for flavour.)

Serve with shaved Parmesan and garnish with some parsley or coriander leaves.

Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month – a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here’s what I’ve written so far.

 

More deliciousness for you!

  • Spaghetti squash, feta and chilli risottoSpaghetti squash, feta and chilli risotto
  • Zucchini, tomato pesto & Parmesan tartZucchini, tomato pesto & Parmesan tart
  • Roasted butternut and sage risottoRoasted butternut and sage risotto
  • Pesto and almond crusted fish – and TimTams from Australia!Pesto and almond crusted fish – and TimTams from Australia!

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Scrambled eggs with sun-dried tomato & Parmesan
Apple and blackberry crisp »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. nina says

    November 11, 2008 at 3:23 am

    ….and the saga continues…. I admire your patience. I love the “hug in a bowl” description, very appropriate!

    Reply
  2. Manggy says

    November 11, 2008 at 3:24 am

    You poor thing! Well, sleeping in thick blankets is kinda nice 🙂 We don’t have gas lines here. To fuel gas stoves we have tanks of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) delivered. To heat water, we use an electric heater. (I suppose you either have an electric range or I’m not getting something about gas lines…)
    Wait, let me rephrase that– sleeping in thick blankets curled up with a hot bowl of delicious soup is definitely nice!

    Reply
  3. courtney says

    November 11, 2008 at 4:11 am

    I love Roneels site and should visit more. Bet you cant wait for the hubby to come home and deal with these headaches! But they always are conviently away arent they when these issues arrive?

    Reply
  4. Kit says

    November 11, 2008 at 6:02 am

    I hope he fixes it quickly today – cold showers in November aren’t appealing at all! Is it porridge for breakfast? I hope you are warm enough till he comes back and magically fixes everything.

    Reply
  5. sunita says

    November 11, 2008 at 10:07 am

    Hi Jen,
    You have such a beautiful space here 🙂
    Regarding the soup, it looks very refreshing…red lentils are one of our staples 🙂
    Take care and keep warm,
    Sunita.

    Reply
  6. Peter says

    November 11, 2008 at 10:29 am

    Now this is a great way to sneak lentils into a person’s diet. Of course, tell them after they’ve enjoyed the soup.
    I too follow Ronell and I hope she posts soon!

    Reply
  7. Jan says

    November 11, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    A great and funny post and such a wonderful bowl of soup!
    Love the bit Quote – “Well, who knows but I still have to turn your gas off. It’s procedure, innit? LOL

    Reply
  8. Bellini Valli says

    November 11, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    Sound like you are in need of some serious comfort food there Jeanne….soup comes to the rescue again.

    Reply
  9. Erik says

    November 11, 2008 at 5:17 pm

    Only a soup like that could counteract the negative effects of a story like that. Glad it did not turn out to be something worse! (The gas, I mean :))

    Reply
  10. Elra says

    November 11, 2008 at 5:52 pm

    Gosh, I would be so measurable without heather in a cold winter day. Hope it won’t going for too long. Good that you have a bowl of that very delicious and comforting soup to warm you at the moment.
    Stay warm,
    Elra

    Reply
  11. Elizabeth says

    November 11, 2008 at 6:37 pm

    “until he can return tomorrow”??! Say WHAT??
    I admire you for being able to take comfort in this soup, as lovely sounding as it is. I’m not sure I would be quite so nice about the situation. (Let’s call a spade a spade, I’d be foaming mad; in fact I AM foaming mad on your behalf.)
    Just to make sure I read correctly, is the boiler that is leaking the same boiler that the first technician claimed was safe? Rrrrrrrrr….

    Reply
  12. Robyn Vickers says

    November 11, 2008 at 7:35 pm

    Yay Soup! It’s one of the best reasons for trees to lose their leaves. I’m guessing you don’t have a gas hob, thank goodness.

    Reply
  13. Gill says

    November 12, 2008 at 11:10 am

    Oh Jeanne! As my gran would have said, “It’s enough to drive a monkey to bite it’s mother”! Hope they get it sorted really soon. The soup looks very yummy indeed.

    Reply
  14. grace says

    November 12, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    speaking of gas…roasted peppers + lentils + my intestines = ample amounts of methane. i’m sorry, was that an overshare? 🙂

    Reply
  15. Jennifer says

    November 13, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    This soup looks and sounds wonderful! I will definitely be making this. I love lentils and peppers, so this is right up my alley.
    Your photos are beautiful as well. 🙂

    Reply
  16. Mansi says

    November 13, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    I’ve been meaning to make this for quite some time now! your bowl looks beautiful, and very inviting:)
    I’d be glad if you could share this with me for my vegetarian thanksgiving recipe event!:)
    http://www.funandfoodcafe.com/2008/11/vegetarian-thanksgiving-recipes.html

    Reply
  17. Kevin says

    November 15, 2008 at 2:26 am

    This soup sounds good and I like the lentils in it.

    Reply
  18. ronell says

    November 17, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    I’m glad you like the soup Jeanne, and I also adore your “hug-in-a-bowl” expression, that’s exactly waht a siup does for me!
    Mmm, so you’re back to boiling water for much more than just tea…good luck.
    Ronell

    Reply
  19. Anne says

    June 16, 2010 at 4:21 am

    I absolutely love red lentil soup, I will be sure to try that one out.

    Reply
  20. barbara wolfensberger says

    November 19, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    I’m sorry, but your measurements are off. for 200 g lentils, you need at least 1.5 liter veg. broth or else itbis a porridge and not a soup. i love the addition of the red pesto though, it gives it a great depth of flavor.

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes
  • Cauliflower steak Welsh rarebit

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Oxtail and red wine potjie
Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Jan Ellis pudding - a classic South African dessert

Featured on

Also available on

🌷🌷🌷 It’s tulip season in London! Every 🌷🌷🌷 It’s tulip season in London!

Everywhere you look, these long-legged floral supermodels are adding a splash of colour to parks and gardens and I just can’t get enough of them! It’s easy to see how they inspired a collective buying frenzy in 17th Century Holland, called “tulip fever”, but today there are less dramatic ways to enjoy them. Here are a couple of suggestions of where to see them at their best:

🌷 The ultimate tulipalooza is the annual opening of Keukenhof gardens outside Amsterdam where 7 million (!) bulbs burst into life each Spring. This year the gardens are open 24 March-15 May (click on the link in my bio for FAQs and my top tips for visitors)

🌷In London, Kew Gardens always has spectacular displays of tulips; but you can also see excellent and free tulips in most of the Royal Parks such as Regents Park. 

🌷The Hampton Court Palace tulip festival is on until 2 May and the Hever  Castle’s Tulip Celebrations until 24 April - both within easy reach of London.

🌷The Morges Fete de la Tulipe in Switzerland takes place every year against the spectacular backdrop of Lake Geneva - it is on until 8 May this year.

I spotted these spectacular red frilly parrot tulips beside St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday 🌹 Where is the best display of tulips that you have ever seen?
MASALCHI BY ATUL KOCHHAR - pan-Indian street food MASALCHI BY ATUL KOCHHAR - pan-Indian street food restaurant in Wembley

Remember to save this post so you can find it later! 🔖

[Invited] If you thought Brick Lane and chicken tikka masala or madras were all there is to know about the food of the Indian subcontinent, think again! In the shadow of the Wembley arch,  @chefatulkochhar has opened his first casual dining restaurant,  showcasing the rustic, spicy, diverse street foods of India. 

Highlights when I visited included:
1. Carrot halwa
2. Papdi chaat
3. Chicken 65
4. Tandoori broccoli
5. Smoky aubergine chokha
6. A snap of all our mains - you can read all about these and more in the full review on my blog - click the link in my bio or go to:
 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/04/masalchi-atul-kochhar-indian-wembley.html

What is your favourite dish from the Indian subcontinent? Let me know in the comments 🌶🌶🌶
🍒🌸 It’s cherry blossom season! 🍒🌸 T 🍒🌸 It’s cherry blossom season! 🍒🌸

There is no season in London that I love more than cherry blossom season! From March through to April, trees in various parks and gardens in London put on an amazing display of delicate pink and white blossoms - and everything in the city seems a little more magical. This particular tree near St Pauls must be among London’s most photographed, and it’s not hard to see why 💕

Did you know that...

🌸cherry blossoms are Japan’s national flower and are known as Sakura 

🌸In 1910, Japan sent the USA some cherry trees as a goodwill gesture… and the Dept of Agriculture inspectors nearly caused an international incident by burning them as they were carrying insects and diseases! But in 1915 Japan sent more cherry trees that survived the inspectors, and these marked the start of cherry trees in the USA.

🌸 Peak blossom season is usually only two to three weeks in March/April but is hard to predict as the weather and the subspecies of tree influence the timing.

🌸The cherry blossom capital of the  world is Macon, Georgia with 300,000 - 350,000 Yoshino cherry blossom trees.

🌸 There are over 200 different varieties of cherry blossom and some are purely ornamental (meaning they produce no cherries)

Where is your favourite place to see cherry blossoms in London or around the world? Let me know in the comments and happy blossom hunting! 🌸🍒🌸

#pinkpinkpink
Dyed Gwyl Dewi Hapus - that's Happy St David's Day Dyed Gwyl Dewi Hapus - that's Happy St David's Day to those of you who don't speak Welsh! 

1 March is the Welsh national day  and what better way to celebrate than surrounded by daffodils -  the Welsh national flower!

Did you know that:
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The English name "Wales" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning "foreigner" - but the country's Welsh name "Cymru" means "friends" in Welsh.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The  Welsh language Cymraeg is the oldest language in Britain, at about 4,000 years old!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 There are more castles per square mile in Wales than any other European country.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Mount Everest is named after George Everest, the Welsh surveyor who first mapped the peak on western maps.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The beautiful Menai bridge (spanning the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and mainland Wales) was the first suspension bridge in the world.

Have you ever visited Wales? What did you like most about it?
*NEW RECIPE* Barbecued salmon with blood oranges, *NEW RECIPE* Barbecued salmon with blood oranges, capers and dill. Pretty in pink 💕

[AD] Blood oranges are a small obsession of mine - from blood orange posset to blood orange and halloumi salad to blood orange & Cointreau upside down cake, I am always looking for new ways to make the most of their short season. Barbecuing them with salmon, capers and dill is a perfect match in terms of flavour as well as colour (or you can oven bake the salmon if it's not barbecue weather where you are!)

When @grahambeckuk asked me to suggest some recipes to match their wonderful Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV sparkling wine from South Africa, this was a pairing made in heaven, and wonderfully colour co-ordinated with their silver-pink bubbly. Get the full recipe and find out more about Graham Beck's sparkling wines, made using the same methods as Champagne, on my blog - link in my bio above. 

What do you like to do with blood oranges? I'd love to hear in the comments!
💘"Love yourself first and everything falls into 💘"Love yourself first and everything falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world." - Lucille Ball

Whether you are celebrating with a partner, with friends, or by yourself today, I hope most of all that you love yourself, love your body, love your strengths, love your weaknesses, and love who you are (or are becoming). Because... you're worth it!

Are you doing anything celebratory today? Let me know in the comments 💘💘💘

(The beautiful street art is London Hearts by @akajimmyc)
📸: @girl_travelsworld
Would you believe me if I told you this is NOT a p Would you believe me if I told you this is NOT a picture of a Moorish palace, a castle or a cathedral? And that you can get to it from central London in under an hour?

This is Crossness Pumping Station @crossnesset , a Grade I listed heritage site and one of London's last remaining magnificent Victorian sewage (!) pumping stations in Abbey Wood near Rainham. 

Did you know that...

💩 You can visit the building on monthly open days - the next one is Sun 20 Feb. Book at www.crossness.org.uk

💩  It was only in 1856, after 3 major cholera outbreaks in 30 years and the Big Stink when the stench of London's sewage finally reached Parliament, that construction of an intercepting sewer system for the city was approved.  The system (parts of which are still in use today) was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer of London's Board of Metropolitan Works at the time.

💩  At Crossness, all London's sewage from south of the river was was raised by 9-12 metres to large reservoirs so that gravity would cause it to flow further east and into the Thames estuary. (Yes, until the 1880s, raw sewage was simply pumped into the Thames!)

💩 The incoming liquid was raised by the four enormous steam driven pumps, built to Joseph Bazalgette's design. The pumps were named Victoria, Prince Consort, Albert Edward, and Alexandra. They are thought to be the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world, with 52-ton flywheels and 47-ton beams. 

💩 The pumping station was decommissioned and abandoned in the 1950s but declared a listed building in 1970.  Although all 4 beam engines remain in place, they were so damaged that today (thanks to the efforts of the Crossness Engines Trust) only Prince Consort has been restored to working condition and can be seen in action on open days.

💩 The exuberant and colourful wrought ironwork inside is the amazing work of architect Charles Henry Driver. My favourite detail is the fact that the pillars in the central atrium are topped with stylised figs and senna pods... two of nature's greatest natural laxatives 🤣
*NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta ch *NEW RECIPE* Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts

Ever noticed how you are affected by colours? 🌈

Maybe some colours make you agitated and some make you relaxed. Or maybe you find yourself inexplicably attracted to a particular colour (oh, hi teal and aqua!💙). On the basis that all colours have a wavelength, and that those outside the visible spectrum can affect us, it makes sense that the colours we see can affect our mood or even our physiology. Did you know for instance that exposure to red light can increase your blood pressure and heart rate? Are there any colours that you find yourself particularly attracted to or affected by?

The pretty colours of these roasted Brussels sprouts with feta cheese, pomegranate and pine nuts will be the first things that attract you to this dish - but it is the delicious combination of flavours and textures that will keep you coming back for more!

The recipe (and more about how colour affects us mentally and physically) is now live on my blog - click the live link in my profile and remember to like and bookmark this post to see more Cooksister in your Instagram feed ❤️
Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way Perspective: a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something.

Perspective is the one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has given us plenty of. It has certainly made us re-evaluate what is truly important, and also what we did and didn't enjoy about our lives  before the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. It made me appreciate how much happiness my house, my job, my friends, my own company and my running bring to my life (and how fortunate I am to have all these things). But it also brought home how much I enjoy and miss travel, the theatre, and the luxury of reataurant visits at the drop of a hat. I don't think words can describe my joy at sipping the first coffee purchased from a coffee shop in summer 2020 as lockdown eased. It's the little things...

One of the things I have enjoyed and will not miss as the world creeps back to normality is the absence of crowds in what is usually a crowded city. On the occasions that I have been in central London since the start of the pandemic, streets have been blissfully empty and it has felt as if I were discovering my city anew. This glorious perspective (hah!) of St Paul's Cathedral normally requires a long wait while a queue of tourists and "influencers" ahead of you pose for photos - but on this glorious day last Spring it was almost deserted. I will miss that...

Is there anything you will miss as Covid-19 restrictions start to be lifted?
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2022 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2022 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT