Ingredients
GF, VGN 
10 minutes preparation time + 30 minutes cooking time 
8-10 - 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons smokey paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 7 fresh cloves garlic, 6 roughly chopped and 1 grated or crushed for the garlicky olive oil lentils
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1/4 Japanese pumpkin or 1/2 butternut pumpkin, seeds and skin removed and roughly chopped
- 750ml water
- 1 x 270ml can low-fat coconut milk, keep a few teaspoons aside for garnishing
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- 2 x 400g cans lentils, rinsed and drained
Method
- Place a large deep saucepan onto medium to high heat, add roughly a tablespoon of olive oil and roughly 1/2 a cup of the lentils. Sauté the lentils on medium to high heat for roughly a minute.
- Now add the garlic, turn the heat down slightly, and sauté for a few minutes until the garlic has mellowed and the lentils are slightly crispy. Remove the lentils from the pan and set aside for garnishing the soup later (feel free to skip this step as it's purely for garnishing the soup).
- Add roughly a tablespoon or two of olive oil to the same pan (no need to rinse after sautéing the lentils), followed by the onion, smokey paprika, ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper, and the garlic, then stir to combine.
- Sauté the onion, garlic, and spices for a few minutes and until the onion is soft.
- Next, add the sweet potato and pumpkin.
- Now add the water, coconut milk (reserve a few teaspoons for serving), and sea salt.
- Stir to combine, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for roughly 30 minutes and until the sweet potato and pumpkin are soft (the smaller the chopped sweet potato and pumpkin the faster the cooking time).
- Once the pumpkin and sweet potato are soft, blend until smooth using a stab mixer or a heat-proof blender. You can also use a potato masher but this will result in a slightly chunkier soup but will still taste delicious.
- Once blended add and stir through the rinsed and drained lentils.
- Taste the soup and add salt if needed.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle over a little of the remaining coconut milk, sprinkle over a few of the garlicky lentils, along with some extra freshly cracked black pepper, and a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (optional).
- Serve with fresh crusty bread and enjoy.
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