Sausage Lentil Soup

By Saskia Poulos, Chef and Organic Farm Assistant at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation

(SERVES 4)

This is a cozy and versatile soup that everyone loves, and it quickly becomes a weeknight go-to when it gets colder.  It is a very forgiving recipe, and welcomes any produce (and dregs of wine!) that you might need to use up.  Potatoes, squash, turnips would all be delicious.  Cooking lentils with tomatoes helps them keep their shape, in addition to adding some brightness.  The parmesan adds an umami depth, and plays very well with the rosemary in the sausage.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons Olive oil, divided

  • 12 oz Chapel Hill Rosemary Beef Sausage (or any other sausage flavor you’d like!)

  • 1 medium white/ yellow, small dice

  • 1 large carrot, peeled, cut in half and sliced into half moons

  • 2 ribs celery, small dice

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 heaped teaspoon tomato paste

  • ½ cup red or white wine

  • 2 cups chopped tomatoes

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 1 teaspoon fresh (or ½ teaspoon dried) thyme

  • 6-8 cups beef broth and/or water

  • 3 cups leafy greens (spinach, chard, etc)

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • Parmesan/ Nutritional Yeast, Olive Oil and herbs to garnish

Preparation

  1. Heat olive oil in a medium-large pot.  Sear sausage until brown on all sides.  Remove from pot and transfer to a cutting board.  When cool enough to touch, cut in half and then into ¼” half moons.

  2. Add the remaining olive oil to the same pot, then the chopped onion, carrots and celery in succession, waiting two minutes between each addition.  Sweat over medium heat with a large pinch of salt and crack of black pepper until the vegetables soften, about eight minutes total. 

  3. Add the garlic, cook one minute to soften.  Add the tomato paste, and cook for two minutes before adding the wine.  Reduce the wine until it is almost dry, then add the bay leaf, thyme, tomatoes, cut sausage and stock/ water.  Bring to boil, and then turn down to simmer. 

  4. Simmer until the lentils are cooked and the flavors haves melded, about 30- 40 minutes.  Add the leafy greens, pushing them down into the soup with a ladle or spoon so they wilt.  Simmer five more minutes. 

  5. Taste for seasoning, then divide into bowls and garnish with shaved parmesan, herbs and olive oil.  A large pinch of nutritional yeast is a perfect dairy-free alternative for parmesan (sometimes I even add both!).  Enjoy with a large slice of good bread.

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