WEEK 29: YOUR BEST RECIPE FOR BEANS

Lentil and Sausage Soup for a Cold Winter’s Night

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    BY ANTONIAJAMES | SERVES 4 ADULTS WITH PLENTY OF LEFTOVERS

A&M: The beauty of this soup is that it manages to be soul-warming but not overly heavy. The broth is light and aromatic with wine and marjoram, and you feel as if you’ve won the lottery each time you come across a piece of garlicky sausage. AntoniaJames has you simmer the lentils and veggies until they’re just cooked through, so that they retain a bit of a bite and the soup, while filling, seems fresh rather than leaden. A sprinkle of red wine vinegar adds a bright hit of acidity. AntoniaJames added, “You’ll see that the primary herb is marjoram. That’s not an herb that you see often in recipes, but to my mind, it’s what makes this soup so tasty.”

    3 tablespoons bacon fat or olive oil

    2 bay leaves

    3 to 4 sausages made with herbs and/or garlic

    1½ cups French green lentils

    4 cups chicken or beef stock (preferably homemade)

    1 large yellow or white onion, cut into ½-inch dice

    4 garlic cloves, chopped

    ½ cup sturdy red wine

    3 celery stalks, diced small, and their leaves if possible, chopped

    1 tablespoon dried marjoram or 2 tablespoons minced fresh marjoram

    4 to 5 carrots, depending on their size, cut into bite-size chunks

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    3 tablespoons organic ketchup

    2 cups chopped spinach (frozen is fine, if you don’t have fresh; just use 1 ½ cups instead)

    ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

    Red wine vinegar

1. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.
2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat or oil with one of the bay leaves and gently sauté the sausages, if they are not already cooked. Cut the cooked sausages into ¾-inch slices and brown them in the bacon fat or oil. Remove the sausage slices with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Reserve the pan; do not wash it!
3. Rinse the lentils in cold water two or three times, pick out any stones or other debris, and put the lentils on the stove in a saucepan with at least 3 cups of hot water from the kettle. If it hasn’t boiled at this point, don’t worry about it. Stir the lentils and cook them over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 20 minutes. If they start to look dry, add more hot water as they cook.
4. Heat the stock in the micro wave or a medium saucepan over low heat.
5. Add the remaining bacon fat or oil, the onion, and garlic to the pan in which the sausages were browned and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the onions start to look translucent, push them aside with a spoon and add the wine. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to deglaze the pan.
6. Stir in the lentils, their cooking water, and the hot stock. Add the celery, marjoram, carrots, sausages, second bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste, and stir well.
7. Simmer the soup until the carrots are tender, at least 10 minutes, adding more water as needed and stirring occasionally to prevent the lentils from sticking.
8. Add the ketchup and stir well. Add the spinach and parsley. Taste and correct the seasonings. Heat until the soup is very hot before serving.
9. Pass the red wine vinegar separately for people to add to taste. Enjoy!

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

    Serve this with a hearty whole grain bread and follow it with fruit and cheese for a lovely, easy dinner at home.

        AntoniaJames said: “This soup holds really well and, in fact, improves a bit if eaten the next day, but—and this is important—don’t chop and add the spinach until right before eating. The greens will cook up nicely in just the time it takes to heat the soup through.”

    ABOUT THE COOK

    Helen Leah Conroy is a transaction lawyer living in Piedmont, California.

        Her favorite recipe from a cookbook: “The banana bread recipe from The Tassajara Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown (Shambhala 1986). It’s easy, it’s flexible, and everyone loves it.”

        Her best cooking tip: “If you like to cook (and especially, make preserves) using local produce in season, keep a separate calendar for remembering—and planning—projects in upcoming seasons. When you run across a recipe that appeals to you but requires produce that’s not in season, make a note on the appropriate calendar month of the recipe and where you found or have stored it. For clipped or other hard-copy recipes, use an accordion file, such as one designed for sorting recipes by month, or a notebook with pocket dividers labeled for each month, solely for ‘want to try’ or ‘plan to do’ projects using seasonal produce. If working digitally, put the month in the file name for easy retrieval.”

    WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID

    monkeymom: “I’ve made this soup now twice, using different sausages and veggies depending on what I could find or what I had in the fridge. The first time was with a chicken Italian sausage and the spinach. I fell in love; it was so warm and satisfying without being heavy. The second time I did it with Aidell’s garlic and Gruyère and cabbage. Very different, but still hit the spot. The little bit of vinegar added is genius!”

        Maria Teresa Jorge: “Brilliant recipe; the addition of the red wine vinegar is a great idea. Just waiting for the snow to melt so I can buy some more lentils!”