Spicy Sausage Lentil Soup

When I was fortunate enough to live near a Carrabba's Italian Grill, I really enjoyed their sausage lentil soup. Then one day I was craving the soup... and now living 2 hours away from the closest Carrabba's... so searched All Recipes for a good substitute. I found this recipe, altered it a bit, and loved it; but honestly I don't remember the Carrabba's version well enough to say whether this is a close replica of theirs or not. It doesn't really matter to me though since I simply enjoy it for what it is, a deliciously spicy soup. Try using turkey Italian sausage to cut some calories.

Spicy Sausage and Lentil Soup

3/4 to 1 pound hot Italian sausage (substitute sweet sausage if you don't want it too spicy)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup (about 3 ribs) celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound dry lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 1/2 cups carrots, sliced or diced
5 cups water
7 cups chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

In a large pot, brown sausage until no longer pink. Drain grease and return to pot. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and saute until tender. Stir in lentils, carrot, water, chicken broth, tomatoes, garlic powder, parsley, bay leaves, salt, black pepper, oregano, thyme, basil, and red pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until lentils are tender. Remove bay leaves and discard. Serve topped with grated cheese. Yields 10 to 12 meal-sized servings.

Recipe adapted from All Recipes.

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

This recipe combines three of my favorites - soup, garlic, and tortellini - into one delightful meal. What could be better? I also love how the faint aroma of garlic lingers in the air for the rest of the evening, even after the soup's been stowed away in the fridge. For the tortellini, even though I'm usually a store brand kind of girl, I like using the Louisa brand (I get it at my local Wal-Mart). Louisa tortellini tastes excellent and at less than $3 for a bag doesn't cost much more than the store brand. I realized when I was typing the recipe up just now, that I forgot to chop my spinach before throwing it into the soup. So that step is not really necessary, except for those that don't like big pieces of spinach floating around in the broth.

This also makes quite a bit of soup, which is great for freezing. I have a nice container tucked away in my freezer right next to some of the Lentil Vegetable Soup that I fixed a few weeks ago.

The original recipe calls for Italian turkey sausage which admittedly is a delicious addition, but I usually skip that to make the recipe less expensive and lower in calories. But that's just me... so I've included optional instructions should you desire to include sausage.


Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups onion, medium diced
12 cloves garlic, minced
7 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3-1/2 cups water
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bag (20 ounces) frozen tortellini
1 bag (9 to 12 ounces) fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil or 4-1/2 teaspoons fresh minced basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

In a large pot, cook the onions with olive oil over medium-low heat until onions begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the broth, water, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and simmer for about 5 minutes (test a tortellini for doneness). Stir in the spinach, basil, pepper, and pepper flakes and simmer for an additional 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Serve with grated or shredded Parmesan cheese. Yields 8 to 10 servings.

Optional sausage version:
Remove the casings from 1-1/2 pounds of Italian turkey sausage and place sausage in a pot with the diced onion. Omit the olive oil. Cook, breaking up the sausage as you go, over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink. Add the garlic and proceed to follow the remaining directions in the recipe above. Yields 10 to 12 servings.

Recipe adapted from Healthy Cooking October/November 2008.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Ever since I was a little girl, broccoli soup has been one of my favorites! I have a version that I make entirely from scratch, but this particular recipe gets some help from prepared cream soups. Don't let that fool you though, this taste much better than any broccoli soup out of a can. I also put a lot of broccoli in it, because that's the one complaint I have against many broccoli soups - not enough broccoli in proportion to the broth. Plus the addition of shredded carrot makes it a little bit healthier, though if we're being really honest, anything with cream in it is probably not very healthy. Does it matter though, when it's something so yummy?


Creamy Broccoli Soup

2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. carrot, shredded
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
4 c. half-and-half or 2 c. milk and 2 c. cream
1 lb. broccoli crowns, trimmed and chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

In a large pot, saute the onion, carrot, and garlic in butter over medium-low heat until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Add the soups, half-and-half (or milk and cream), broccoli, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, while stirring occasionally, and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until broccoli is tender (about 15-20 minutes), stirring occasionally. Yields about 4 servings.

Lentil Vegetable Soup

When I first read the recipe for this soup, I thought the spice combination of cumin and thyme sounded a bit weird. I frequently cook with both of those, but never together! But, I thought it looked like it was worth trying and it was. My two-year-old Peter asked for seconds and the next day he requested that "soup with carrots" for lunch. The original recipe called for leeks (in addition to the onions) and intended to use them... but forgot to buy them. And I've never purchased leeks before so I'm not sure how much that lowered the cost of making this, but we never missed them so I'll probably continue skipping them in the future.


Lentil Vegetable Soup

4 c. onions, chopped
4 tsp. garlic, minced (about 4 cloves)
1/4 olive oil
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves or 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 c. celery, medium-diced
3 c. carrots, medium-diced
1 lb. dry lentils
12 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 c. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar or red wine
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Saute onions and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin in a large stockpot over medium heat for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the carrots and celery. Saute for an additional 10 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the lentils in boiling water for 15 minutes; drain.

Add the lentil, broth, and tomato paste to the vegetables. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer uncovered for about 1 hour, or until lentils are tender. Stir in the vinegar/wine and serve topped with freshly grated cheese. Yields 8 to 10 servings.

Recipe adapted from The Barefoot Contessa.