Armenian Red Lentil Soup with Apricots

Red lentils cook up to a lovely color. (In this soup, the color was enhanced by the apricots and tomatoes.) They don't need soaking, and they cook up fast (4 minutes in pressure cooker or about 20 without). It would be difficult for me not to like a red lentil soup.

This recipe reminded me that red lentils shouldn't be forgotten, even when the pressure cooker opens up a world of other beans to fast cooking. It was light and fresh. Since I have a modern type pressure cooker, I liked that the oil was optional, and I left it out.

I would make a few changes next time, though. I used Blenheim variety dried apricots, which I adore. But the Blenheims have a tarter edge than the Turkish-type that would have been more traditional here. (The recipe did not specify; although it probably wasn't necessary since the Turkish are by far the most common). Extra sweetness would have been welcome, so I would try the Turkish (or a half and half mix) next time. I also would have tracked down my kitchen snippers and snipped the apricots vs. trying to chop them with a knife (too sticky to chop very well). Finally, I would have used more apricot. I used toward the high range, but the apricot was the star here, so a bit more would have been welcome.