Winter has arrived. To be honest I had already decided we weren’t having a real winter this year and was getting myself excited for spring, and now this! Snow, ice and temperatures down to -15 C (5 F). I mean, around Christmas time this kind of weather is fine and I’ll even go so far as to say I like it, but now? Shoudn’t winter be wrapping up and moving on at this point?
Well, to deal with this I decided to make us a big pot of piping hot delicious lentil soup. I’ve tried my fair share of lentil soup recipes and was never quite satisfied (Arik wasn’t either :)). Then recently, I stumbled across this recipe and had to try it. It doesn’t taste like your typical lentil soup, which I love. I left the garlic oil off of Arik’s portion, but all of the adult portions should definitely include it.
I hope this weather ends soon, but until then lets just stuff our faces with lots of delicious hot soup. What is your favorite soup on a cold day?
* I should add, that I wrote this post a few days ago and today Berlin is filled with sunshine and is a toasty 5 degrees C (41 degrees F). Things are looking up! 🙂
- ½ cup/120 ml olive oil
- 2 links of Italian sausage or bratwurst, casings removed
- 1 med. onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 sticks of celery, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, pressed (reserve half for later)
- 1 cup/160g brown lentils, rinsed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 28oz/800g can crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups/1200ml water
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3-4 cups/300g chopped kale, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thawed and liquid squeezed out)
- shredded Parmesan cheese for topping
- Heat ¼ cup/60ml olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a large pot) on medium heat.
- Add the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until it starts to brown (about 5 minutes).
- Add the onion, carrot, celery, 2 pressed garlic cloves and some salt to the pot. Cook another 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add the lentils, bay leaves, tomatoes, water and some salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 45-60 minutes or until the lentils and vegetables are soft and soup is at the consistency you prefer. (You may have to add more water if the soup gets too thick)
- When the lentils are cooked, add the kale and cook for a few minutes more until soft.
- While the kale cooks heat the rest of the olive oil (1/4cup/60ml) in a small skillet and add the pressed garlic. Cook just until the garlic sizzles and softens.
- Remove the bay leaves from the soup and top each portion with some Parmesan cheese and a teaspoon of the garlic oil for the adults.
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
