Roasted Tomato, Red Pepper & Red Lentil Soup

By Lucy Sugars, Nutritional Therapist

I absolutely love this soup – it’s rich, velvety, and full of flavour. You’ll need a decent blender to get it really smooth: a stick blender works if you’re patient, but a jug blender gives the best silky finish.

This recipe is more than just comfort food – it’s packed with skin- and gut-loving nutrients. Tomatoes and red peppers are rich in vitamin C and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant linked to better skin elasticity and reduced inflammation. Red lentils add plant-based protein and are a great source of folate and fibre, helping to feed your gut bacteria and keep you fuller for longer.

It’s easy to make, ideal for batch cooking, and freezes well – a staple I come back to again and again.

Roasted Tomato, Pepper and Red Lentil Soup

Serves 4-6 depending on portion size.

6 medium – large tomatoes, ideally vine ripened. Vine removed and cut into chunks

2 medium red peppers, chopped into chunks without seeds or core

1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped into chunks

4 cloves of garlic, keep skin on for roasting

1 tbsp olive oil

Mixed herbs

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional)

1/2 cup (approx 100g red lentils)

1.2 – 1.5 litres of quality vegetable stock

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius.
  2. Take a large roasting tray and put your chopped tomatoes, red pepper, red onion and whole garlic cloves. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, a sprinkle of mixed herbs and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and toss to coat.
  3. When the oven is at temperature place the roasting dish in on a lower to medium shelf and roast for 25-35 mins or until soft and going slightly brown. You don’t want these black or too crispy.
  4. Whilst the veggies are roasting add your lentils to a large saucepan, cover with the stock and bring to a boil. When boiling turn down to a simmer and cook for around 20 mins or until the lentils are soft. Take off the heat.
  5. When the veggies are roasted, take them out and pick out the garlic cloves. Squeeze the garlic flesh out straight into the pan of lentils and stock, chucking the skin away. When the veggies aren’t too hot add them and the juices to the lentil and stock pan.
  6. Add to a blender and blend until smooth. Put back in the pan and season well. If it’s really thick you can add some more stock or hot water to thin it out a bit now, mix well or blend further. I have made this with a variety of different liquid amounts from 1.2 litres to 1.5 litres and it always works.

Note: to make this soup low FODMAP omit the onion, garlic and lentils. Reduce the stock down to 1 litre ensuring the stock is low FOMDAP or use Bay’s Kitchen Low FODMAP stock.

Stages of cooking below…

 

If you enjoy nourishing, skin- and gut-supportive meals like this, you might also like my Chicken, Apricot & Spinach Tagine or this Collagen Overnight Oats recipe.