Green Lentil & Beef Soup

YeŞil Mercimek YemeĞi

Many visitors to Istanbul bypass the city’s ubiquitous esnaf lokantası, tradesmen’s canteens, where dishes are served from steam tables. That’s a shame, because these lunch joints are troves of classic home-style fare.

This soup from Lades Lokantası is a classic example: comforting and thick, with green lentils that dissolve somewhat and just a bit of ground beef for flavor. It only improves with time, so make it ahead if possible. Lades uses flat camouflage-green lentils (sold as green or brown lentils in the U.S.), which must be soaked overnight. You can substitute French Le Puy green lentils, which do not require pre-soaking and will cook faster, though they will not break down as brown or green lentils will. If you use store-bought stock, be sure to taste it before adding and reduce the amount of salt in the recipe if necessary.

At Lades, this dish is usually ladled over Rice and Orzo Pilaf and served with a chopped salad of tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce or Soupy Yogurt with Cucumber and Mint.

Preparation time: 1 to 1½ hours, depending on variety of lentil used

Serves 6 as a main course

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 teaspoons fine sea salt, or to taste
• 2 to 4 mild or hot green chiles, such as cayenne, jalapeño, or Anaheim, seeded if desired and very thinly sliced
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons Turkish or regular crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 6 ounces ground beef
• 1½ cups green or brown lentils (see headnote), rinsed, picked over, soaked overnight, and drained, or French Le Puy lentils, rinsed (not soaked)
• 7 cups beef, lamb, or chicken broth, or half broth and half water, or as needed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ½ packed cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Red pepper flakes, for serving

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and salt and cook for 5 minutes. Add the chiles and cook until limp, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, with their juice, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Raise the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and the tomatoes and pepper flakes are fragrant, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the beef and cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add the lentils, broth and/or water, and lemon juice and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a lively simmer and cook partially covered, until the lentils are soft and the liquid has reduced, about 30 minutes if using Le Puy lentils. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking, and add more broth or water ½ cup at a time if necessary.

3. Stir in the parsley and simmer gently for another 5 minutes. Taste for salt, adjust as needed, and serve, with red pepper flakes on the side.