It’s been a while for various reasons but I finally threw something together that I felt was shareable and then I also felt inspired enough to take a photo with it that I didn’t hate. This recipe for fennel and lentil soup is short, cheap and easy, which is perfect for when you don’t have a lot of energy and you do need something comforting to eat.
All things dal
Before shit hit various fans in November I’d really been getting into beans and lentils, and one of the places you invariably end up when this happens is dal territory. I made a quick dal with runny eggs from Good Eggs by Ed Smith and then a fennel and parsnip tarka dal from Jackfruit & Blue Ginger by Sasha Gill. And then aforementioned shit happened and I didn’t get a chance to cook because I was either travelling back and forth or very very tired.
Until a few weeks ago, I had half a bulb of fennel from a fennel and anchovy pizza I made the night before, and an open tin of tomatoes from I don’t even remember why, and I thought “Fuck it, why not make soup?”.
On soup
People always get super excited about soup season but unless my soup has some kind of or many textures, I’m not into it. So something with dumplings or tortellini floating in it, an Indonesian soto ayam, with all the fixings added in myself, or something akin to a French pottage, which was one of the first soups I fell in love with and which has given me a strong preference for soups so thick you can stick a spoon in them and they will remain upright. The below soup may even just be a dal, but I don’t want to call it that because you can’t call something a dal just cause you made two dals and it has red lentils in it.
I’d gotten the gist of soup making from reading You Gotta Eat by Margaret Eby. So I thinly shaved my half a fennel with a mandoline (the trick is to go slow and stop in a timely manner) and added some lentils, that half tin of tomatoes and some broth, and hey ho: soup. The recipe is barely more than that, but if you need it, you can find instructions below.
Finishings for fennel and lentil soup
You could just have this soup plain but there are some variations and finishings I can recommend:
- Top with a tadka, you can read more about the magic of tadka’s on Serious Eats
- Top with Trouble&Spice Curry Bomb, which is basically a pre-made tadka, and if you use discount code DorothyPorker you get 10% off as well
- A dollop of creme fraiche, yoghurt or whatever else creamy thing you have on hand
- Mix in a spoon of harissa
- Mix in spoon of sambal, I’d say a sambal manis or sambal jeruk would work wonders
- Some fresh chopped coriander or parsley

Fennel and Lentil Soup
Equipment
- Mandoline or sharp knife
- Medium saucepan
- Immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 T oil olive oil, neutral, whatever you want
- 1/2 bulb fennel thinly shaved or chopped - see instructions
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3/4 c split red lentils rinsed if necessary
- 1/2 tin tomatoes or tomato pulp, etc - should be 200 gr(ish)
- 500 ml stock from cubes, I used dashi powder - more to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Fennel note
- I used a mandolin to shave my fennel very thin, if you don't have a mandoline use a knife and cut it as small as you can or just adjust the cooking time, if you do have a mandoline remember you're not a chef in a fancy kitchen, so go slow and stop in a timely manner. This way you'll keep all your finger tips intact.
Recipe for fennel and lentil soup
- Add 1 T of oil to a medium saucepan and add in 1/2 thinly shaved bulb of fennel. Add a pinch of salt and some pepper and stir frequently, until the fennel becomes translucent.
- Now add in 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic and stir for a minute or two, until fragrant.
- Dump in 3/4 C of split red lentils, 1/2 tin of tomatoes and 500 ml stock and bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for as long as your red lentil package tells you to, mine takes 6 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to get the soup to your desired consistency. If it's too thick for your taste, add a little stock (or plain water) and blend some more. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
- Top or finish with whatever you fancy, or with nothing and all, and serve.
Notes
- For me, this soup serves two as a full meal with some flatbread as a lunch or dinner
- This soup freezes well, I'd say no more than 3 months