Red lentil and potato soup with golden button mushrooms

In short: Red lentils and potatoes cooked together in half an hour: a thick soup topped with button mushrooms browned over high heat. Take it to work in a thermos.

Serves: 4. 30 minutes.

Patata, Champignon, Cipolla, Carota, Alloro, Prezzemolo

Ingredients

• 240 g split red lentils
• 500 g floury potatoes
• 400 g button mushrooms
• 120 g onion (1 piece)
• 100 g carrot (1 piece)
• 1000 g celery-free vegetable stock (homemade: carrot, onion, leek, bay leaf)
• 25 g olive oil (10 g for the soup, 15 g for the mushrooms)
• 0.2 g bay leaves (1 leaf)
• 3 g sweet paprika
• 15 g cider vinegar
• 10 g parsley
• 5 g salt (3 g for the soup, 2 g for the mushrooms)
• 1 g ground black pepper

Method

1. Chop the onion and the carrot. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1 cm dice. Rinse the lentils in a sieve.
2. In a pot, heat 10 g of oil and soften the onion and carrot for 3 minutes. Add the paprika, the potatoes, the lentils, the bay leaf and the hot stock.
3. Bring to the boil and cook for 15-18 minutes over medium heat, stirring now and then: the lentils break down and the potatoes become tender. Remove the bay leaf, add 3 g of salt and the vinegar.
4. Meanwhile, cut the button mushrooms into quarters. Heat a wide pan well with 15 g of oil and brown them over high heat for 6-7 minutes without stirring too much, until well golden. Season with 2 g of salt and pepper at the end.
5. Serve the soup with the mushrooms and the chopped parsley on top.
6. For the lunch box: soup in an airtight container or a thermos, mushrooms in a separate container. Heat for 2-3 minutes in the microwave, stirring; if it has thickened, add a splash of water. Put the mushrooms on top afterwards.
7. Warning. Lunch box: keep the soup in the fridge until lunch and heat it well, or pour it boiling hot into the thermos flask; eat it the same day.

Updated on 25 October 2026