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  • Hearty Red Lentil Soup

    9 votes
    Hearty Red Lentil Soup
    Prep: 10 min Cook: 1 hours Servings: 6
    by John Spottiswood
    300 recipes
    >
    This is a wonderfully flavored soup that our whole family really enjoyed. I'm a huge fan of traditional Turkish Red Lentil soup which has more exotic flavors, but I was impressed by the down home goodness of this soup. I had three medium sized helpings, and even then I nibbled a bit more as I was putting the remainder into the tupperware. We doubled the recipe, so I can go to sleep now knowing it will taste even better tomorrow when I reheat it!

    Ingredients

    • 2 Tbsp olive oil
    • 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
    • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
    • 9 ounces lean Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
    • 1 celery stalk, diced
    • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
    • 1/2 cup brown rice
    • 3/4 cup red lentils
    • 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
    • 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 garlic clove, peeled
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • 5 cups spinach leaves, loosely packed
    • Freshly ground black pepper to taste

    Directions

    1. Heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large heavy-bottom pot over
    2. medium-high heat. Add half the onion and saute until browned, 8 to10 minutes. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the balsamic vinegar. Transfer the onions to a bowl and set aside.
    3. Warm the remaining olive oil. Add the sausage, remaining onion, celery and thyme and saute over medium high heat, breaking up sausage, until onion is soft and sausage begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and lentils.
    4. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes with juice, bay leaf, garlic and paprika and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until rice and lentils are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
    5. Stir in the spinach until wilted. Season to taste with black pepper and remaining balsamic vinegar. Ladle into bowls and serve topped with onions.

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    Reviews

    • Nancy Miyasaki
      Nancy Miyasaki
      This was fantastic! I had some today (day after making) for the first time as I was out to dinner last night with friends, and it was amazingly flavorful. If you like lentil soup, this is a must try!
      • Debbi Simms
        Debbi Simms
        Looks really good
        • Lesli a Furo
          Lesli a Furo
          yum
          • Linda Merz
            Linda Merz
            I made this last week and it was really good. As we were talking over dinner, my husband stopped in mid-sentence and commented on how much he liked the soup! I wouldn't hesitate to serve this to company with a nice crusty bread.
            • John Spottiswood
              John Spottiswood
              I'm so glad that you and your husband liked this Linda. Thanks so much for taking the time to write the review!

            Comments

            • judee
              judee
              We are big soup eaters. This one looks so good. I'll be adding it to my collection
              • suzybel56
                suzybel56
                I love soups, especially with legumes, beans etc. I had never used lentils up until a couple of years ago, until I bought a bean mix that had lentils. Now they are a staple in my kitchen. I am going to make a double batch of this and freeze some!
                • John Spottiswood
                  John Spottiswood
                  Hope you enjoy it Suzebel, and let me know how well it freezes!
                • Julie-Anne
                  Julie-Anne
                  This looks wonderful! I love making soup in the fall/winter and will try this soon!
                  • John Spottiswood
                    John Spottiswood
                    Hope you enjoy it Julie-Anne!
                  • Cheryl Norman
                    Cheryl Norman
                    Love the high fiber content! This goes on my "try soon" list.
                    • John Spottiswood
                      John Spottiswood
                      It's tasty Cheryl. Hope you get to try it soon!
                    • Debbi Simms
                      Debbi Simms
                      This looks fantastic John, will be trying this out when weather cools slightly we are having very warm weather at the moment here in UK
                      • John Spottiswood
                        John Spottiswood
                        Great. Let me know how you like it when the weather cools off a bit!

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