Another recipe from my kitchen. I love this soup in the winter but hadn’t gotten around to making it this winter so I made it over the weekend. I started on a quest to find a good lentil soup recipe after visiting Scotland. I went to an Indian restaurant there and my dad ordered the best lentil soup I’ve ever had. I didn’t even know I particularly liked lentils until trying that soup. This soup doesn’t come close to that (I’m pretty good at dissecting recipes but I’m not familiar enough with Indian cooking to guess their spices) but is good and comforting.

Lentil Sausage Soup

1 lb lentils, rinsed and drained
3/4 hot bulk italian sausage (use mild if you don’t like spice and turkey sausage works well too)
4 cups chicken or beef or vegetable broth
4 cups water (or you can use more stock – your choice)
1 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup sliced celery
2 cans (14.5oz) diced tomatoes or 1 can tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce – plain tomato)
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
Parmesan Cheese to garnish

Put all ingredients except sausage into large stock pot. Bring to a boil then cover, reduce heat, and allow to simmer 60-80 minutes (until lentils are tender).

While the soup is simmering, brown the sausage in a skillet and set aside.

Remove 3-4 cups of the soup and puree in blender or food processor or with stick blender. Put pureed soup back in large pot. Add browned sausage into large pot. Allow soup to simmer for another 15 – 20 minutes. Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top (I’m all about fresh grated parm but I have to say Kraft works just fine with this soup).