Hi Dave, I’ve never used white lentils but I believe they’re not actually a true lentil. I’ve never seen them in the shops here so can’t really advise. But I would imagine you could easily use a different lentil instead if you can’t find white lentils.

Good to know, thanks!

Hi Anne, there are some more details about how to cook lentils here: https://www.easycheesyvegetarian.com/how-to-cook-lentils/

Red lentils do cook down pretty mushy – green or brown lentils are firmer and keep their shape more. I quite like it when red lentils break down as they make soups and stews nice and thick and creamy. If you do want firmer red lentils you’ll just need to keep an eye on them and try to catch them when they’re just soft enough but not yet losing their shape – probably 15 minutes or so.

Absolutely! Brown and green lentils are very similar to each other and cook in around the same time, so those could easily be combined – although I wonder whether it would even be worth it, since they’ll give a very similar end result anyway. You could combine brown/green with red lentils, as they have different textures, and will bring something different to the soup (if you cook red lentils for long enough they will start to break down into the soup, which makes it a bit thicker and creamier, for example). Brown and green lentils take longer to cook, so make sure you add those at the beginning, and then either add the red lentils a bit later on if you want them to hold their shape, or just cook them for longer if you want them to cook right down.

I hope that all made sense!!

Yes I’d definitely swap for green :)