Barricade Soup with Cockroach Row

Ingredients

• 250 g red lentils
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red chili pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 l vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 eggs
• 16 black olives (pitted)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Boil the eggs hard (8-9 minutes), cool and peel them.
2. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Slice the red chili into rings.
3. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Sauté onion, garlic, and chili until translucent.
4. Add cumin, coriander, and tomato paste. Fry for 2 minutes.
5. Add the lentils, stir, and pour in the stock. Bring to a boil.
6. Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are soft. Roughly puree the soup with a stick blender.
7. Season with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
8. Cut the eggs in half lengthwise.
9. Pour the soup into deep bowls. Place 4 egg halves upright along the rim of each bowl as a barricade, rounded side out.
10. Place a black olive on each egg half, as a 'cockroach', partly climbing over the barricade.

Serving notes

• Serve with extra lemon wedges for more sourness.
• Sprinkle extra chili over the soup for more punch.