I call this stew cuz I like my soup thick.  I’ll happily eat soup and bread for every meal.  Lentil is one of my favorites, and as a new mama, I find that if I can carve out a couple hours on a Sunday to make a mondo batch of soup, I can eat it all week.  I also made a double batch of Chef Lisa’s Carrot Soup with Coriander.  Obsessed with this soup.

Lentil Stew with Chicken Sausage

1 large onion, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 Tablespoons butter

8 cups chicken stock (2 boxes)

1 15 oz can stewed tomatoes, with juice

1 pound lentils, rinsed and drained

4 cooked chicken sausages (I use organic skinless cilantro chicken sausage from Whole Foods)

salt and pepper, to taste

fresh cilantro, chopped (optional garnish)

Take your biggest soup pot.  Melt the butter and saute the onion, carrot and celery until soft, about 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add tomatoes, lentils, and broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for about an hour, until lentils are very soft.

I like this soup pureed, so I use an immersion blender at this point.  Then I add the sausage, which is cut into circles, and then I puree a bit more, so there are a few sausage chunks, but it sort of blended in.  Taste again to see if it needs more salt and pepper.

That’s it!  You can go wild with different types of sausage, or go veggie with no sausage.  You can use green lentils, or red lentils, or yellow lentils.  You can also play with spices.  I like adding coriander or cumin when I saute the buttery veggies.  I also like to finish the soup with a shot of balsamic vinegar…the soup world is your soup oyster. Get it.