Recipe & Pic from Taste Cooking
This is my absolute favorite lentil soup recipe! Try subbing in some local potato sausage or cube some of the potatoes from your box and add to the mix for an extra hearty meal!
~Rae
1 ½ C green or brown lentils
7 OZ Toulouse sausage, Italian sausage, or other uncooked pork sausage, casings removed
Olive oil, as needed
1 MD yellow onion, diced
1 MD bulb fennel, trimmed, cored, and diced
½ TSP fine sea salt
3 whole cloves
½ TSP dried thyme
6 C chicken or vegetable stock
Freshly ground black pepper
Full-fat sour cream, for serving
In a heavy-bottomed pot, cook the sausage over medium heat until browned, breaking it into bits with a wooden spoon as it cooks. (If the sausage meat is lean, add 2 teaspoons olive oil so it doesn’t stick.) Scoop out and set aside on a plate.
Add the onion, fennel, and salt to the pot and cook, stirring regularly, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
Rinse the lentils. Add to the pot with the cloves and thyme. Add the stock, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. If you want to give more body to the soup, mash roughly with a potato masher, or process briefly with an immersion blender. You want the soup to remain chunky.
Return the sausage to the pot and stir. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Ladle into bowls. Add a spoonful of crème fraîche, black pepper, and parsley, and serve. I like a dash of hot sauce, too.