As the fall weather starts, I am instantly drawn to soups…even if it’s not so chilly outside yet! One of my favorite soups that I make many times over is my Sausage and Lentil Soup, found here, every now and then, I either run out of ingredients for it, or I feel like mixing it. When I made this version with sweet potatoes, I kid you not, my husband said it was the best version of the soup I’d ever made. And we both love this soup. Like, lots. So that’s saying a lot. Hopefully I’m not building it up too much, but seriously you guys, it was pretty magical. So give it a spin, and let me know what you think!
Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Red Lentil Soup
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion
6-8 organic baby carrots
2 organic celery stalks
2-3 medium sized sausages, removed from casing
1 can tomato sauce
1 box (32 oz) chicken or veggie stock
14-15 oz water
1 1/2 cups organic red lentils
1 medium to larger sized sweet potato, diced
1/3 bag fresh organic baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
Mirepoix: The Starter
An easy way to start soups is with mirepoix, also known as “the Holy trinity” (no sacreligiousness intended; merely reporting what others have called it). This is onion, carrot, and celery. Used often in Cajun/Creole and Italian cooking, it adds a savory and sweet (from the carrots) base. For this soup, I finely diced 1/2 yellow onion, 6-8 organic baby carrots, and 2 organic celery stalks. Throw in a couple finely diced garlic cloves, some salt and pepper, and you’ve got a great start to a tasty soup! Cook until the onion is slightly transparent and the carrots and celery are slightly softened. No need to get too crazy with it since everything will cook another half an hour in the liquid anyway.
Next, add the sausage (removed from the casing if using raw sausage, or diced if using pre-cooked sausage), and saute for 3-5 mins until it’s slightly browned and you’ve infused some flavor into the veggies.
Add a can of tomato sauce and the stock and stir. Fill up the tomato sauce can with water, and add that in for some extra liquid (if you like the soup thicker, you can omit this step, but you’ll have to tend the potatoes a little more closely). Chop up the sweet potato into small chunks and add them in carefully (they can splash hot liquid otherwise!).
Let it cook for about 10 minutes. Wash the lentils in a strainer and add them to the pot, stirring every couple minutes to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. Cook on a low boil/simmer for another 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Add some fresh spinach at the last minute, letting the leaves wilt, and voila!, it’s done.
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