Serves a Crowd

Red Lentil Soup With Smoked Kielbasa

by:
December 27, 2010
4.3
3 Ratings
Red Lentil Soup With Smoked Kielbasa
  • Serves 8-10
Author Notes

This can be made vegetarian-friendly by excluding the sausage and substituting vegetable broth. I live in an old Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn where fresh kielbasa is readily available and, in my opinion, it really make this a hearty and delicious soup. Enjoy either way! —kishee

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 pound smoked kielbasa, diced
  • 2 yellow onions, diced
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 large celery stalks, diced
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 1 turnip, diced
  • 2 medium potatoes, cubed
  • 1 pound red lentils
  • 3 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsely, chopped
Directions
  1. Wash and pick over the lentils. Set aside.
  2. In a large pot heat olive oil then add sausage and brown. Remove from the pan and drain over paper towels. Set aside.
  3. Lower the heat and add the onions, crushed red pepper, and a large pinch of salt. Sweat the onions until translucent then add the garlic. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
  4. Add the celery, carrots, turnips, potatoes, lentils, chicken broth, cumin, cayenne, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer and cook until vegetables are soft, about 30-40 minutes.
  5. Divide the soup in half. Using an immersion blender puree one part of the soup then combine with the remaining half. Add lemon juice, sausage, and parsley and heat through. Season to taste.
Tags:
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  •
  • souperman
    souperman
  • nutcakes
    nutcakes

Popular on Food52

2 Reviews

souperman
souperman February 2, 2015
I was looking for a way to use part of a 7 lb bag of red lentils I bought from Costco and this seemed to be just right for that. I picked up some smoked Kielbasa before the snow hit us and just finished a bowl and a half of this soup, 20 minutes ago. A very hearty and filling dish. I've previously made a Moroccan red lentil soup that also used lemon juice and was delicious so I had high hopes for this one. It did not disappoint. The amount of spices and seasoning was spot on. I did have to add some extra salt because the Better than Bouillon Chicken base is fairly low in sodium. I'm guessing that this is one of those soups that will taste even better the next day and will test that theory tomorrow at lunchtime. I joined this site just to let you all know how great this soup is. Kudos to kishee!
 
nutcakes
nutcakes January 4, 2012
Very good. I love the seasoning. The lemon really makes it terrific. I used another style of smoked sausage and it was just great.