Magnificent News: Eat Voraciously: Happy Halloween

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Here's what's for dinner tonight.

By G. Daniela Galarza

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Happy Halloween

Good day, all. Are you dressing up and going trick-or-treating? Do you have a candy station set up by the door? Have you been partying all weekend? It's Halloween, in the United States and Canada at least, and to me that means there's an extra excuse to eat chocolate and other sweets.

Especially if you have kids, today is probably a busy one for you, so I'm going to get right to it. Tonight's recipe is for a deeply savory lentil and noodle soup. It's from "The Turkish Cookbook," by Nur Ilkin and Sheilah Kaufman, and it uses a few tricks to boost flavor.

First, if you have homemade stock — chicken or vegetable — use that! If you don't, store-bought is fine.

Tomato paste adds a touch of umami, as does red pepper paste. There are many kinds of pepper or chile paste. In Turkey, this generally refers to biber salcasi, a sweet pepper paste that often has a touch of heat, but harissa or even a spoonful of chile oil would work here, too. See the substitution suggestions, below, for other ideas.

Finally, dried mint and Aleppo pepper are bloomed in butter and oil. This wakes up their flavors, and infuses the fat with the musky, sweet mint and smoky, spicy pepper. A drizzle of this infused oil goes on top of each bowl. It's like a final kiss of flavor. It's a technique you can use with any fat and spice, a tip worth keeping in your back pocket when you want to add something extra to other soups and stews this season.

Today's recipe

Photos by Stacy Zarin Goldberg for The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Green Lentil Soup With Noodles and Mint

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

For easy printing and scaling, view this recipe in our Recipe Finder.

Servings: 6
Active time: 20 mins
Total time: 45 mins, plus soaking time (see substitution suggestions, below)

Ingredients

8 cups no-salt-added chicken broth, preferably homemade, divided
1 cup dried green lentils, soaked for 3 to 4 hours, then drained
1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper paste (see substitution suggestions, below)
3 ounces (85 grams) dried angel-hair pasta or fettuccine, broken into matchstick-size pieces (about 3/4 cup broken pasta)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon dried (ground) mint
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (see substitution suggestions, below)

Steps

1. Bring 6 cups of the broth to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Add the drained green lentils, salt and pepper, tomato paste and red pepper paste; mix to incorporate. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low; cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

2. Add the remaining 2 cups of broth (it doesn't have to be warm) and the pasta. Stir to incorporate, then cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Taste and add more salt or pepper, as needed.

3. Transfer to a soup tureen or individual bowls, or cover and turn off the heat.

4. In a small skillet over medium heat, combine the butter and oil until the butter melts, then stir in the mint and Aleppo pepper. Drizzle the infused oil over the soup just before serving. Serve hot.

Adapted from "The Turkish Cookbook," by Nur Ilkin and Sheilah Kaufman (Interlink, 2010). Tested by Nicole Schofer.

Nutrition information per serving: Calories: 300; Total Fat: 7 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Cholesterol: 10 mg; Sodium: 840 mg; Carbohydrates: 42 g; Dietary Fiber: 11 g; Sugar: 3 g; Protein: 16 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

If you use dried lentils, they need to be soaked for 3 to 4 hours before they can be used in this recipe >> but if you used canned lentils, you can skip this step.
Aleppo pepper is available in Mediterranean markets, well-stocked supermarkets and online. >> In a pinch, you can use smoked paprika or another type of powdered chiles instead.
To make this recipe vegan >> use vegetable broth and omit the butter.
There are many kinds of red pepper paste. >> Feel free to use harissa here, or substitute a dash of hot sauce or chile oil.
If you don't see dried mint in the spice section >> substitute torn fresh mint or mint tea leaves, crushed between your fingers.