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.
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7 Responses to “Lentil Soup with Sausage and Kale”
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Great recipe! I’m a huge fan of anything with kale. Like you, I was ready to accept that winter wasn’t coming to Berlin this year.
Thanks Kayla! Hopefully the temp will keep going up like this and we will have had the shortest Berlin winter ever. 🙂
Amazing recipe! Kale + lentils = match made in heaven. Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks forthis great recipe- My guy and I both loved it! I did change it a bit and used 4 cups low sodium chicken broth and 1 cup water, and I added red pepper flakes- it was very flavorful.
So happy you two enjoyed the soup!
Thanks for this recipe, made it for dinner last night, It was so good. Everyone enjoyed it!