Currently cooking from The Carefree Cook by Rick Rodgers.
This soup may not look like much, but it is one of the best recipes I’ve made out of The Carefree Cook.
The soup starts by browning some sausage and then adding onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the pot. Normally, I don’t like sausage very much, but here, the sausage plays a starring role. I used a pound of sweet (or mild) turkey Italian sausage and it was perfect. Once the veggies have softened, you add lentils, chicken broth, tomato paste and water and simmer until the lentils are almost done. At that time, you add about a cup of small “soup” pasta (I used ditalini) and cook until the pasta is tender.
I purposefully added less liquid than the recipe called for, simply because I didn’t want a brothy soup. The first night we ate this with homemade buttermilk bread, but the leftovers were even better. The lentils and macaroni continued to absorb liquid, so the soup became thicker.
The only thing I would change about this recipe is to add more veggies. I think some sort of hearty green, such as kale, would be wonderful. Also, peas.
I think I would like this soup alot. It looks easy and very hearty.
This looks interesting. Why do soups always call for celery? Not only does it stink, it really serves no purpose. If you leave it out, does the soup cry or something? (I very much dislike celery.) I think the bread sounded really good and should have had a more prominent placement in the picture. I mean, come on, it’s BREAD. Yum!