Artist’s Palate: Gillian Wearing’s lentil, potato and leek soup

In the two decades since she won the Turner Prize, Gillian Wearing has placed family at the heart of her work, such as her series of self-portraits in which she dons eerily realistic silicone masks resembling her own relations. So it comes as no surprise that Wearing has selected a hearty family dish for us. ‘My favourite dinner when I was a child was my mother’s vegetable soup,’ she says. The original recipe called for lamb, but having been vegetarian for many years, she finds this meat-free variation ‘fills that nostalgic food gap’.

Ingredients

Onion, leeks, olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, red lentils, potatoes, vegetable stock, black pepper

Method

1. Slice the onion and leeks and fry them in olive oil for a few minutes. When softened, add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

2. Wash the red lentils and add to the other ingredients.

3. Roughly cut up the potatoes; they can still be in their skins. Add to the pan.

4. Pour in vegetable stock (for further flavour you can use two stock cubes).

5. Simmer for about 35 minutes until the lentils and potatoes are cooked.

6. Season with black pepper.

NB this is not a liquidised soup.

As originally featured in the December 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*225)

INFORMATION

‘Family Stories’ is on view until 7 January 2018. For more information, visit the National Gallery of Denmark website

ADDRESS

National Gallery of Denmark
Sølvgade 48-50
1307 Copenhagen

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS