Martha Stewart's 15 minute soup recipe is easy to follow and cooks 'so fast'

Many vegetable soups are easy to make but few are as quick as this recipe by Martha Stewart.

The US cooking expert claimed that her formula is the perfect “can-do dinner” that can be easily customised.

Sharing the recipe on her website, Martha claimed: “It uses canned lentils and store-bought vegetable or chicken broth - that's why it's so fast.”

The recipe starts by sizzling finely chopped onion, carrot, and celery for an aromatic base and is finished with the remaining ingredients.

One extra ingredient is added at the end too, a little red wine vinegar to “bring it all together”.

Ingredients

• One teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil
• Half a small onion
• One carrot
• One celery stalk
• One garlic clove
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 410ml vegetable or chicken stock
• One can of cooked lentils from a tin, rinsed and drained
• Two teaspoons of red wine vinegar

How to make lentil soup

Prepare the base of the soup by finely chopping the onion, carrot and celery then mince the garlic.

Add these to a large saucepan on medium heat with a dash of oil, followed by some salt and pepper. Leave to cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dissolve the stock cube in water if required or add the readymade stock liquid to the pan, then bring it to a boil.

Cook for five minutes before adding the lentils and continue to cook until the soup thickens slightly, which should take three to five minutes.

Stir in the red wine vinegar and season with more salt and pepper to taste.

As lentils are very bland in taste, Martha noted that it’s important to be generous with seasonings and they should take well to this.

She claimed that a “flavourful broth” and aromatics like onion, garlic, and dried herbs are also worth layering into the dish to build flavour.