Une histoire toute simple de lentilles et de crevettes – Soupe de lentilles et pois cassés au crevettes et pesto de pistaches, coriandre et persil

lentilshrimpsoup4web

lentilshrimpsoupweb

It’s a nice and cute story of lentils and shrimps, but then many other ingredients got involved…and we have a nice and complex soup filled with vitamins and flavors. Not that it is necessarily soup season but I think that you have to eat whatever you feel like despite the season, ice cream in winter and soup in summer is perfectly fine.

It’s a light soup, brothy enhanced with pistachio pesto. I did not add parmesan to the pesto, I think its strong flavor can alter the shrimp flavor, most of the time I don’t really like to mix cheese and fish.

You don’t have to soak the lentils, they cook relatively quickly comparing to the other dry beans. Lentils are filled with iron, protein and fibers so don’t hesitate add them into your diet. I like to use French green lentils (lentilles du Puy), they tend to keep their shape and don’t get as mushy as the brown ones, besides they tend to have more flavor. In France, lentilles du Puy is the first vegetable that has AOC (appellation d’origine controllée) thanks to its specific nutritious values. You can check out the national site for Lentilles du Puy.

Ingredients for 4

For the soup

  • 24 medium size uncooked shrimps, deveined
  • 3/4 cups French green lentils (duPuy)
  • 3/4 cups split peas
  • 1 leek, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 celeri sticks, chopped
  • 1/2 head of radicchio, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cloves
  • olive oil
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • salt and pepper

For the pistachio pesto

  • 1/2 cup parsley
  • 1/2 cup cilantro
  • 2 tbs unsalted pistachios
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot, add onions and brown them. Add the rest of the chopped vegetables. Stir all vegetables, and let cook for about 10 minutes to blend all flavors. Add split peas and lentils, cloves and bay leaf, mix well and cover with broth. Add salt and pepper. Cover and cook at medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the lentils and peas are cooked.

For the pesto, mix all ingredients in a blender, and blend to a medium consistency.

Saute shrimps in 1 tsp olive oil, add salt and pepper.

Serve soup with shrimps in the middle and a tbs of pesto on top of the shrimps.