I was first served this soup in Zakynthos after being violently ill for about 4 days and the landlord’s wife of the apartment I was staying in, insisted I had a bowl of this to settle my stomach. I was about 19 at the time and living on my own on the island and at that point was not very adventurous in my taste! The soup was delicious and did indeed settle my stomach. The landlady added a little glug of red wine vinegar just before serving with fresh crusty bread…………delicious and best of all, cheap!!!

• Ingredients
• Olive oil (good healthy glug)
• 1 ½. Cups washed brown lentils
• 1 x large red onion chopped
• 3 or 4 peeled cloves of Garlic (put them in whole)
• 1 x carrot chopped (chopped small)
• 2 or 3 bay leaves
• A good squeeze of tomato puree
• A good pinch of dried oregano (optional)
• Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
• Red wine vinegar – splash

Method
This has got to be one of the easiest meals to throw together – I watched my good friend Georgia put this together in a flash when we were packing up her home in London for her departure for France – she didn’t fuss about, just threw it all in and we carried on working! Lunch was served about 45 mins later and it was delicious

• Wash your lentils well and drain
• Put your chopped red onion in your pan (a big saucepan) along with the chopped carrots, lentils, whole garlic and bay leaves. Αdd oregano if desired.
• Add in water  – cover the lentils by about an inch or so (the water can be adjusted further on in the cooking process)
• Squeeze in about a tablespoon of tomato purée (I often put in 2 tablespoons) and a good glug of olive oil and your salt and pepper.
• Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer, put on the lid and leave for about 40 – 45 mins. The soup should now have thickened up a bit and be smelling very tasty!

You can now serve (remember to remove bay leaves and whole chunks of garlic – unless you want to eat the garlic of course!) add a splash of red wine vinegar to the soup and serve with fresh bread. Crumbled feta cheese on top of the soup is also delicious.