Lentil soup and a toastie is my ideal Sunday lunch. Perhaps a few too many were had the night before, or something soothing is needed to get you through the last of the winter cold. This combination works for me every time.
Kashar, or kashkaval cheese, is a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese. For me it’s the perfect toastie cheese; it has the nuttiness of cheddar with the texture of cooking mozzarella – it melts perfectly. It’s available in most Turkish corner shops or supermarkets. I always prefer buttering the outside of my sourdough and cooking my toasties in a pan with olive oil to ensure the perfect crunch.
Serves 6
For the soup
vegetable oil
onion 1 small, minced
carrot 1, peeled and finely chopped
red lentils 150g
white wine 120ml
roasted tomato puree 30g (domates salcasi)
roasted pepper puree 30g (biber salcasi)
sweet aleppo pepper 2 tsp
cumin 1 tsp
dried oregano 1 tbsp
black pepper ½ tsp
chicken or vegetable stock 1.2 litres
yoghurt 120g
garlic 2 cloves, minced
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
For the toasties, per person
sourdough bread 2 slices
kashar cheese a handful, grated
butter soft enough to spread
olive oil
sea salt flakes and dried oregano to finish
Begin with a splash of vegetable oil in a saucepan and start sauteeing your onions in it – typically in most recipes you’ll add your garlic at this stage too, but Turkish food celebrates strong aromatic and acidic flavours, so we’ll add it later.
Add the carrots once the onions have begun to brown, and stir until both are caramelised. Add the lentils, stirring and toasting them with the vegetables before any salt or liquid is added – this will allow more flavour to be drawn from the lentils, as salt will draw out the liquids in the vegetables.
After around 3-4 minutes, deglaze the lentils with half the white wine and add the purees – again, really cook these out so their aroma fills the room. Add the spices and cook for a further minute, deglaze with the rest of the white wine and mix well.
Add the stock, bring up to a boil, then simmer for 45-60 minutes, depending on how soft you like your lentils.
While the soup simmers, get your kashar toasties ready. Lay out the bread for as many people as needed, and sandwich a handful of cheese between 2 pieces. Butter the outside of the sandwiches. When ready to cook, heat a little olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium heat, and add the toasties (cook in batches, depending on the size of your pan and how many you’re making). Fry the toasties, pressing down on them with a spatula, until dark-golden brown and crisp on the underside, then flip and cook the other side. When done, remove from the pan and sprinkle with sea salt flakes and dried oregano.
When ready to serve, stir the soup and add the yoghurt, minced garlic, salt and lemon to taste. Slice the toasties in two – dip, bite, slurp, repeat.
Sertaç Dirik is the executive chef of Mangal 2, London E8
