I love lentil soup! Here's the one I came up with from trying various recipes. I call it Greek Lentil Soup because some of the ingredients are those that my Papa would have used :-)
Place lentils in a large saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain lentils into a colander. Pour olive oil in to the large saucepan and place over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook while stirring until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until the lentils have softened, about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add an additional amount of water during cooking if desired.
By Deeli from Richland, WA
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
We are trying to increase our fiber intake and would love easy recipes using lentils in soup.
Thank you all in advance.
By Barbara from Boerne, TX
I was at a conference last summer. They made spaghetti using lentils instead of meat. It was really good and much healthier.
Vegetarian Lentil Soup seasoned with marjoram
Serves 4 (change servings and units)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
Directions
Saute carrot, celery, garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil and butter for about five minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, lentils, broth, 1 teaspoon marjoram and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. When lentils are done to your liking, add remaining ingredients and simmer for just a few minutes more. Good luck.
Sounds great, cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you. :)
1 ham hock (I have the butcher cut the whole hock in half and just use one half for the soup)
1 onion
1 bag lentils (approximately 4 cups) I use red lentils, but any of the other types will work just as well.
Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add the half ham hock, cover and let simmer for at least two hours. Remove ham hock from the water and set aside to cool. Dice the onion and add to the broth. Rinse the lentils. Bring the broth to a boil, add lentils, stir and simmer. Cut the meat from the ham hock and mince it finely. Add to the soup. Simmer for another hour. I don't add salt but you can add some if you choose.
You will love this one and it's easy and aromatic and it freezes well if you want to make a double batch for the future :-)
Greek Lentil Soup
Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and, for added flavor, a splash of red wine vinegar if desired.
8 ounces brown lentils
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbls garlic, minced
1 large stalk celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, minced
1 quart water
1 pinch dried oregano
1 pinch dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tbls tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
Place lentils in a large saucepan, cover with 1 inch of water. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
Drain lentils into a colander. Dry the saucepan, pour in olive oil, and place over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and cook while stirring until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Pour in lentils, 1 quart water, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cover and simmer until the lentils have softened, about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add small amount of additional water if the soup becomes too thick for your liking.
Also, go beyond soup recipes ;-) Rachael Ray has some very yummy sounding lentil recipes!
www.rachaelray.com/
And do an internet search for Lentil Burgers, too :-)
My friend used tomato lentil soup and would add a few turkey legs. This was a wonderful tasting soup which I make.
As I was walking down the aisle of the grocery store, perusing the canned lentil soup's sodium percentages, I began grumbling mentally. Why is it that the high sodium soup in the can tastes better than mine?
I use ham flavored soup base in my soup which you can find by the bouillon. Also a bay leaf or two and canned crushed tomatoes (added towards the end of cooking). Most delicious !
Try adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp sugar or artificial sweetener but not so much as to make it taste sweet. This should work with any green veggie that smells or tastes raw.
When the soup is ready, take 3 - 4 cups of the soup and vegetables and puree in the blender, then return puree to the soup. This gives it a thicker, richer flavor.
Thank you Joankay and Ettamae. These are excellent suggestions!
Holly
Do you use tomato paste or the vegetarian stock cubes to add flavour. Freshly ground black pepper is good if you like it. I have silverbeet growing and I cut up about 5 leaves and add towards the end.
Does anyone know the best kind of sausage to put in lentil soup? if so what brand etc.
Thanks.
Bridget from AZ
allrecipes.com/
This is a great place to start. My girlfriend puts in waterchestnuts, too, for a bit of crunch!!
N-JOY
Any kind of link sausage would be fine. I like Polish or Kielbasa myself.
I would suggest you pre-cook the sausage and pat off the grease with a paper towel, then add it to the soup - otherwise you are going to end with with a very greasy lentil soup.
Suggestion - go to your local grocery store and purchase a variety of the smallest pieces of sausage possible. Pan fry, then serve with mustard and mashed potatoes and a green veggie. That way, you will be able to figure out which one tastes better and use that one in your soup.
I used a great pre-cooked spicy chicken sausage made by Usinger. Just sliced thin and added it.
Yesterday I had sausage and lentil soup at Carrabba's Italian restaurant. It was filling, not too greasy and absolutely wonderful. Anyone have the recipe or a similar recipe?
Thanks.
By Holly from Dallas, TX
Carrabba's Sausage and Lentil Soup
1. In a large stockpot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add one carrot - grated , one large onion- minced and two cloves of garlic - minced (I have added celery and/or zucchini if I have it as well). Saute until tender.
2. Remove vegetables from the pot and add one pound of hot Italian sausage, removed from the casing. Brown then drain off fat.
3. Place eight cups of chicken broth, the sauteed vegetables along with the sausage into the pot. Add two cans of whole tomatoes with juice, break them up by squeezing them with your hands. Add two cups of dried lentils which have been washed according to package directions. Add 4 ounces diced ham (about 1/2 cup, cut from a ham steak).
4. Season with one teaspoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (more if you want it hotter), 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 tablespoon basil, 1/2 tablespoon parsley, one bay leaf and 1 tablespoon vinegar. (I added 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds once because I had it on hand.)
5. Simmer until the lentils are tender, about an hour. For a thicker soup remove 1/3 of the soup and puree it then return it to the pot. Correct seasonings and remove bay leaf.
Thank you for taking the time to post the recipe!
