Lentil and Sausage Soup with Kale

By • March 4, 2013 • 12 Comments


Serves 6

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for browning the sausages
  • 1 tablespoon bacon fat (or add another tablespoon of olive oil)
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 3/4 cups chopped celery
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • Salt
  • 1 1/2 cup french green lentils, rinsed
  • 28 ounces canned chopped tomatoes (I use tetra-pack)
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 4 chicken sausages (or substitute another kind of sausage)
  • 1 1/2 cup chopped kale
  1. Heat the olive oil and bacon fat over medium heat in a large, heavy pot and add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Add a big pinch of salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes and 4 cups water. Add the thyme and rosemary and a couple more pinches of salt. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary to cover the vegetables.
  3. Meanwhile brown the sausages in about a teaspoon of olive oil in a small pan and then slice them into quarter moons.
  4. When the lentils are just tender, taste the soup and add more salt if necessary. Add the kale and cook for about 3 minutes, until the kale is tender but still green. Stir in the sausage, make sure everything is heated through, and serve.

Tags: baby food, chicken sausage, cooking for clara, kale, lentils, pantry, soup

Comments (12) Questions (0)

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1 day ago MrsK

Boy, oh, boy, another recipe that makes me want to long for winter... And I hate winter! :-)

Stringio

12 days ago adele93

would roast chicken, shredded work as a substitute for sausage? trying to avoid that much fat

Merrill

12 days ago merrill

Merrill is a co-founder of food52.

Sure! Also, most chicken sausage is pretty low in fat.

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about 1 month ago punkage

carol from chicago
Just made this lentil and sausage soup with kale....one word....
Yummmmoooooo
Very very good. I never used chicken sausage before and you would
never miss regular Italian sausage. Excellant and I'll make it time and time again. Many thanks, C

Stringio

2 months ago Cyn Der Rella

I want to try this asap!

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2 months ago shirlee riddle

This question came to me and not an expert but would leave them whole as easier to remove when finished cooking.

Merrill

2 months ago merrill

Merrill is a co-founder of food52.

Yes, that's what I do. You can also chop up the leaves and add them that way.

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2 months ago GreeneKR

Should the thyme and rosemary go in whole of be destemmed first?

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2 months ago shirlee riddle

Thanks Lynette, I'll give the V-8 a try.

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2 months ago BadCat

That was quite good! I used two rashers of bacon as well as Italian sausage. My eight year old daughter loved it and it was so easy to make on a Wednesday night.

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3 months ago shirlee riddle

Wanted to ask about the liquid?? Only juice from tomato's? I make a similar White Bean and Sausage which calls for 4 cups of chicken broth and would like to not have to use so much broth. Would like to use water.

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3 months ago Lynette Lorenzen

I added one can of V-8.