It’s warming, nourishing, and seductively curry-like.
That’s what “Red Lentil, Dried Mint & Lemon Soup” is all about. It’s also so easy and fast that you’re sure to make it on repeat whenever you want to tuck into a cozy bowl.
The recipe is from “Boustany” (10 Speed Press, 2025), of which I received a review copy.
It was written by Sami Tamimi, a Palestinian chef, restaurateur and food writer who grew up in Jerusalem before moving to Tel Aviv, then to London and Umbria, Italy.
His love for cooking, which started as a child in his mother’s kitchen, led him to start a catering company in Tel Aviv, then to running the savory kitchen of Baker & Spice in London, before joining forces with Yotam Ottolenghi to open Ottolenghi Deli in London. “Jerusalem,” a cookbook he and Ottolengthi wrote together, won the “International Book Award” from the James Beard Foundation in 2013. Tamimi’s “Falastin” cookbook won an IACP award.
“Bustany” is derived from the Arabic term for “garden.” Farming has long been and continues to be a way of life for Palestinians, as Tamimi notes in his book. Foraging also provides not only sustenance but another source of income. Among his happiest memories are spending time in the thriving garden at his grandparents’ house in Hebron.
As such, it’s no surprise that the more than 100 recipes in this cookbook are centered on vegetables, in both traditional dishes and fresh new ones that he’s developed along the way.
Savor “Cardamom Pancakes with Tahini, Halva, and Carob” for breakfast, “Crushed Fava Beans with Goat Cheese and Preserved Lemon Salsa” for lunch; “Couscous Fritters with Preserved Lemon Yogurt” for dinner; and “Sumac Roast Plums with Cardamom Cream & Pistachio” for dessert.
For this red lentil soup, start by sauteing onions with potato, carrot and celery. Add in red lentils, vegetable stock, turmeric, and cumin, and simmer until the lentils are soft and have started to break down a little.
The recipe then says to ladle out “1 pound and 10 ounces (750 grams)” of the soup to puree in a blender. Yes, it’s a rather odd measurement, but I measured it and found that it comes out to roughly 3 cups. Once you’ve pureed that amount, add it back into the rest of the soup in the pot. If you’re pressed for time or lack a blender, you could easily skip this step, as the soup will still have thickened and turned somewhat creamy already just from the starchiness of the lentils.
Add a pinch of Aleppo chile flakes to the soup, along with dried mint. The latter is not always easy to find in supermarket spice aisles. But it’s easy enough to make your own. Just take fresh mint leaves, and lay them on a paper towel-lined microwavable plate. Cover with another paper towel, then microwave on high for 1 minute or so until the leaves shrivel and start to dry up. At that point, once the leaves have cooled, you have dried mint that you can crumble easily with your fingers.
Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with a little olive oil, and serve with garnishes that include fresh cilantro leaves, toasted cumin seeds, more dried mint, more chile flakes, and chopped, peeled lemon, for guests to add as they please.
Although I’ve added a squirt of fresh lemon juice to soup many a time, the chopped flesh of fresh lemon as a condiment was a new one to me.
On its own, of course, it’s plenty puckery. But a couple of juicy, chopped lemon cubes stirred into a bowl of soup offers up bursts of bright acid here and there for a nice surprise that won’t prompt any undue wincing. I urge you to give it a try, as it’s a marvelous addition to this thick, creamy soup that’s full of complex earthy, musky, and savory deliciousness.
Tamimi says it serves 4 to 6, but I think it’s so satisfying that you’d be hard-pressed to feed more than 4 because everyone surely will be clamoring for a big bowl of it.
Red Lentil, Dried Mint & Lemon Soup
(Serves 4)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1 1/4 cups)
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 1/4 cups split red lentils, rinsed and drained
5 cups hot vegetable stock
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt and black pepper
2 teaspoons dried mint, plus more for serving
1 teaspoon Aleppo chile flakes (or regular chile flakes), plus more for serving
To serve:
2 lemons, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and slightly crushed
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the potato, carrot, and celery, and cook for 2 minutes more.
Add the lentils, stock, turmeric and cumin and bring to a boil, then partly cover the pan and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the lentils are mushy. Add 2 teaspoons of salt, and a good grind of black pepper, then stir the soup and remove it from the heat. Ladle out about 3 cups of the soup into a tall jug and blitz with an immersion blender until smooth (you can also do this in a freestanding blender).
Return blitzed soup to the pan, add the dried mint and chile flakes, and simmer gently on low heat for 2 minutes.
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the chopped lemon, cilantro leaves, toasted cumin seeds, mint, and chile flakes. Drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.
Adapted from “Boustany” by Sami Tamimi
Another Recipe by Sami Tamimi to Enjoy: Sweet Tahini Rolls