Serves 8
This ancho lentil soup is smoky, flavored through and through, and topped with caramelized grilled pineapple for that sweet and savory combo that always works. This soup has been on the site for nearly 20 years, back when grilling pineapple was having its moment. That moment is due for a comeback and we will be ready. Smoky toasted ancho chilies get ground into a rough powder right in the pot, which gives the whole soup this deep, slightly fruity heat that dried chili powder can’t touch. Lentils simmer until tender and thick, with serrano for a little brightness and lime juice at the end to pull it all together.
The grilled pineapple on top is not optional. The sweet, slightly caramelized fruit against the smoky broth is the whole point. It takes about five minutes on a grill pan and it makes the soup.
Ancho chilies are mild, dried poblanos with a dark, chocolatey flavor. At the time of writing I was on a serious dried pepper kick and toasting whole cumin and coriander seeds was just my whole thing, and it is absolutely worth it. But if you want to use pre-ground ancho chili powder, use about 2 tablespoons in place of the dried chilies and skip the toasting step entirely — just add it with the other spices. The serrano brings a clean, bright heat. Swap in jalapeño for something milder, or a habanero if you want to go the other direction. You can also use pre-ground spices, I was just really on this spice grinder kick at the time.
If you like this recipe you might also like these other spice-forward recipes:
Ancho Lentil Soup With Grilled Pineapple
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 dried ancho chilies seeds removed and ripped into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion diced small
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Seranno pepper seeded and chopped
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups brown or green lentils washed
- 7 to 8 cups vegetable
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
To serve:
- 8 fresh pineapple rings
- Slices of lime
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- We’re going to make our own ancho chili powder. Preheat a small frying pan over low-medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and ancho chili pieces and toast, stirring often, until fragrant and toasted, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a spice grinder (I use a clean coffee grinder) or small food processor and grind to a coarse powder. Some bigger pieces of chili are okay. Add the coriander seeds to the cumin and anchos and pulse a few times to crush them, you don’t want them ground to a powder, just broken up pretty well.
- Preheat a big stock pot over medium heat. Saute the onions in the olive oil until transparent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the serrano and garlic and cook for another minute. Add the spices and stir. Add the bay leaves, salt, lentils and 7 cups of water. Mix well. Bring up the heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling lower heat to low-medium and let simmer until lentils are completely tender, anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour depending on the lentils.
- When just about ready to serve, heat up your grill pan on high heat or preheat a broiler. Spray your grill pan with cooking spray and grill the pineapple slices for 4 minutes on each side, or until grill lines appear. If using a broiler, cook on one side for 3 minutes and the other for about 2, until pineapple begins to brown and slightly caramelize.
- Once the lentils are tender, add lime juice. Thin with a little extra broth if necessary.
- Remove the bay leaf. If you like, use an immersion blender to puree about half the soup. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a potato masher to mash it up a bit, until desired thickness is achieved. You can skip this step if the lentils have cooked enough to thicken. Taste for salt and seasoning.
To serve:
- Ladle into bowls and top with a pineapple ring, a slice of lime and dot with hot sauce.
