Vegan Soup with Meatballs

To prepare these delicious lentil meatballs and combine them with a flavorful soup, we start by gathering all the necessary ingredients. First, we place the lentils in a strainer and rinse them thoroughly with cold water. It is important to know that red lentils do not require soaking beforehand, so we can get straight to cooking. They will soften slightly during boiling, and their color will change from red to yellow, providing a subtle sweet taste.

In a pot, we bring 500 ml of water (or vegetable broth, for added flavor) to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, we add the lentils, stirring gently to prevent sticking. We then reduce the heat to low and let the lentils simmer for about 15 minutes. At the end of boiling, we add salt and, optionally, various spices like turmeric or ginger, along with onion and garlic for extra flavor. After the lentils are ready, we drain them and transfer them to a food processor, where we blend until we achieve a fine paste.

While the lentils are boiling, we prepare the beetroot, which we peel and grate. The onion and garlic are peeled, washed, and finely chopped. All these ingredients are added to the bowl with the lentil paste, along with psyllium husk, flour, thyme, coriander, sweet and hot paprika. We season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste and mix well until we obtain a homogeneous composition. We let the mixture sit covered for 5 minutes to thicken slightly.

We then shape the meatballs with our hands and place them in the steamer basket, ensuring they are spaced apart. We steam the meatballs for about 20 minutes, checking at the end to ensure they are cooked properly. Once they are ready, we keep them covered until serving.

For the soup, we peel and wash the carrot, parsnip, and celery, then grate them or cut them into small cubes. The onion is finely chopped, and the parsley leaves are washed and finely chopped. The prepared vegetables are boiled in a pot with approximately 2500 ml of water, to which we add salt and pepper to taste. We let the vegetables simmer on low heat for 10-12 minutes.

Once the vegetables are almost cooked, we add the peeled chopped tomatoes and tomato paste diluted in 100 ml of vegetable broth. We stir gently and let everything boil for another 10 minutes. Finally, we add the olive oil, and turning off the heat, we incorporate the chopped parsley leaves. If you want a more sour soup, you can add lemon juice to taste. In the last step, we introduce the meatballs into the soup and cover the pot with a lid, allowing the flavors to blend perfectly. The soup is served hot, being a comforting and flavorful dish.

 Ingredients: For meatballs (for 28 pieces): - 200 g red lentils - 500 ml water or vegetable broth (in which the lentils will be boiled) - 130 g red beet - 50 g white onion - 15 g psyllium husk - 30 g freshly sifted white flour - 20 g dried thyme - 5 g ground coriander - 2.5 g hot paprika - 3.5 g sweet paprika - 2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on preference) - freshly ground black pepper (to taste) - salt (to taste) For the soup: - 120 g carrot - 50 g parsnip - 50 g celery - 60 g white onion - 100 g peeled tomatoes (I used 'Pomodorini datterini') - 80 g tomato paste (preferably homemade) - 2500 ml water - 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil (to taste) - 20 g fresh parsley leaves - lemon juice (to taste) - freshly ground black pepper (to taste) - salt (to taste)

 Tags:  onion greenness garlic carrots soups tomatoes pepper flour oil olives lemon