Author Archives: katherinelogan6

Serves 4
Total prep and cooking time: 35 to 45 minutes

I don’t remember a time when this soup wasn’t a winter staple while I was growing up. I searched the internets for a similar recipe and couldn’t find one and, even though my mom always attributed recipes on her hand-typed recipe cards, this recipe card doesn’t say where the recipe came from. If you know, please let *me* know!

Ingredients

1 cup dried green lentils
5 cups cold water, separated
1-1/2 teaspoons salt, separated

Alternative to water and salt:
4 cups water with a heaping tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola or olive)
1 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (I use garlic granules)
1/2 teaspoon marjoram (substitute: dried oregano)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (I use 1/2 teaspoon)
1 bay leaf
1 cup peeled and grated carrot (I use a small dice)
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (substitute: 2 teaspoons dried parsley)
1/2 pound Polish-style sausage (e.g., kielbasa)

Cooking instructions

Cook the lentils
1. Rinse lentils in an 8-inch fine mesh strainer in cold running tap water.
2. In a large (at least 3-quart) saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the lentils, 4 cups of water, and 1 teaspoon of the salt (or water and Better than Bouillon) to a full boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 to 30 minutes, or until lentils are just tender. I would recommend checking at 15 minutes, fresher dried lentils will cook faster.
4. Drain well in the fine mesh strainer. Don’t rinse.

Prep other ingredients while the lentils cook
Prep bowl #1
-onion
-celery
-diced carrot (if shredding the carrot, then add to prep bowl #2)
Prep bowl #2
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-garlic salt (or granules)
-marjoram (or oregano)
-pepper
-bay leaf
-parsley
-shredded carrots (if not using diced carrots)
Other prep
-Tomatoes: my mom’s tried-and-true canned whole tomato prep was to squeeze and crush each tomato by hand as she was dumping the can into the pan. Works great. Alternatively, you can use kitchen shears to cut the tomatoes into chunks in the can before you dump it into the pot, or dump the whole can in and break the tomatoes up as they cook.
-Sausage: slice the sausage into 1/8-inch slices

Finish the soup
1. In the same pan you used to cook the lentils, heat the oil and saute the contents of Prep bowl #1 until onion starts to get transparent.
2. Stir in remaining 1 cup of water, drained lentils, tomatoes, and the contents of Prep bowl #2.
3. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
4. Add sausage to soup and simmer for 5 minutes longer.

Ready to serve immediately. Garnish with additional fresh chopped parsley if you feel fancy. Serve this with warm, buttered sourdough.

Does not freeze well, but tastes awesome later. Just add a bit of water and reheat.