Pear Is The Unlikely Ingredient You Should Add To Your Next Lentil Soup Batch

Lentil soup has ancient beginnings, from its appearance in the Biblical book of Genesis to its vast consumption during the Alexandria Empire. While it has long been consumed in the Middle East, its recipe and preparation have evolved exponentially since ancient times. With cultural twists, technological advancements (like hand-held blenders), and the general globalization of ingredients, vibrant interpretations of lentil soup are extensive. One such illustration is a lentil soup with pear.

Pear is a truly versatile ingredient; it can substitute baking oil, switch up salads, or brighten a chutney. They can be sweet or tangy, tender or crispy. Adding pear to lentil soup brings a subtle sweetness to the earthy, peppery lentils without overpowering the savory essence of the dish. This inclusion pairs well with a Moroccan spiced base or blends seamlessly with coconut milk and lime. Pears are also rich in antioxidants, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals, so they have an added health advantage.

It might not be the ingredient you expected to add to your lentil soup, but it's definitely the one you need.

Just as you would take time to consider how long any ingredient takes to cook, so you must also do with pear. Will you blend the soup, or do you want soft pieces of pear dotted throughout? If you like chunky soup, choose underripe pears, as these will retain their shape once cooked. If you're going to blend your soup, then you can add ripe cubes of pear to the base when you add the lentils. If you want the best of both worlds, you can blend half of the boiled mixture into a smooth puree and then reintroduce the chunky half.

Alongside the texture are also the flavors. While raw pear can be boiled with the other ingredients, you may also consider roasting the pear beforehand. This will give the pear a slightly caramelized flavor that will meld well with butternut squash, celery, and carrots. The pear flavor is easy to build inside a soup. However, it's recommended that less is more. You want the sugary sweet nuances to interweave into the savory components of the lentil soup, balancing the salty and sour aromas.

Pears are available mostly year-round in the United States, so if you're a seasonal shopper, this lentil soup is almost always an option. Diving deeper into the pear sphere, fantastic varieties are available to suit all taste buds and culinary applications. If you're looking for pears with a faintly sweet disposition, like the ones you would use on sweet and savory pizza, then the Anjou variety is ideal. Bosc pears, which are perfect for poaching, have firmer flesh, so they will work well if you want a chunky lentil soup. They have a strong sweetness reminiscent of honey, and their flavor is unlikely to be overshadowed by spices. 

On the other hand, Asian and Forelle pears are delicious raw, while Bartlett is excellent baked, and Taylor's Gold is ideal in jams and jellies. While you can experiment using these pear varieties, the two first varieties may be more fitting for lentil soup.

You don't necessarily have to use fresh pears either, as canned pears can also be used in savory cooking. However, they tend to be lower in fiber than the fresh variety. Expand your lentil soup horizons with the subtle sweetness of pear. You could be pleasantly surprised by the result.