Rosemary, Lentil and Tomato Soup

Can winter have crept up on me already?  Suddenly I need to put on a bobble hat to pop round to the local shop.  Suddenly it’s dark enough to light candles at 4pm.  And this afternoon I was sleepy enough to have a wee nap on the sofa under an orange woolly blanket.  Sounds like winter to me.

My garden is also entering hibernation mode.  With only a few leeks remaining in the ground, I have covered most of my vegetable patch with a thick layer of horse poop and left the ground to recover from a busy summer.  Only my hardy herbs will see me through the coldest months.  Hardy herbs like the revitalizingly fragrant rosemary. 

Now, it’s easy to overpower a dish with rosemary but it’s also easy to be so scared of overdoing it that the flavour is lost completely.  Inspired by a dish eaten in The Falls of Dochart Inn in Killen, Perthshire, the following recipe does not shy away from its rosemary base.  A hearty, invigorating soup perfect for a dark November afternoon.

Rosemary, Lentil and Tomato Soup

1 tblspn olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1.5 tblspn fresh rosemary, chopped

150g red lentils

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

500ml vegetable stock

Seasoning

• Gently fry the onion, rosemary and garlic until the onion is soft but not coloured.
• Add the lentils and stir.  Add the tomatoes and stock.  Stir.
• Bring to the boil then reduce the heat.  Simmer for 30 mins.
• Season carefully, adding extra rosemary if you like.

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