I love sorrel and it grows fantastically well in my garden, but it’s quite difficult to know how to cook it. This is delicious store-cupboard recipe for a good lunch-time soup, bulked out with red lentils but retaining the lemony bitter taste of the sorrel.

Serves 4

rapeseeed oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
2 stems celery, sliced
2 medium carrot, peeled and sliced
150g red lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
150-200g sorrel, coarse stems removed, leaves roughly shredded
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a low heat, add the onion, celery and carrot, cover and sweat gently, stirring from time to time, for about eight minutes, until the vegetables are slightly softened but not coloured.

Stir in the lentils and stock,  add seasoning, bring up to a simmer and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, until both the vegetables and lentils are soft.

Ladle the soup into a blender along with the raw sorrel, or whizz with a Braun or similar hand-held. Blend until smooth, adding a splash more stock or water if you feel the soup is too thick.

Reheat gently, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.