Indiana Harvest Sausage Lentil Soup

By Dr_Mom

Ingredients

• Indiana Harvest Sausage Lentil Soup Mix - Frontier Soups
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound mild Italian sausage
• 12 cups beef broth
• 2 to 3 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine

Preparation

Step 1

Crumble and brown sausage in oil in a 6 or 8 quart pot.
Rinse, drain and pick over lentils.
Add lentils, vegetable packet and broth to pot.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, add zucchini after 30 minutes.
Add tomatoes and wine to soup.
Simmer, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes.


Vegetarian Soup Recipe Variation:

Start the soup with sautéing the vegetables that go into ratatouille: a red and green pepper, large onion, 2 medium zucchini, a small eggplant--cut up into 1-inch chunks. Add the soup mix and 8 cups broth. Simmer 45 minutes, add the tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese!

Slow Cooker Recipe*

In large skillet crumble and brown sausage in oil, stir in contents of seasoning packet.
Transfer to bowl of slow cooker and add broth. (May start soup night before and cover and refrigerate overnight.)
Rinse, drain and pick over lentils, place into slow cooker and stir well.
Cover and cook on High 4-5 hours.
Add tomatoes, zucchini and wine and continue on HI 1 hour.
*This soup takes less than 2 hours to make on the stove, so the slow cooker may not offer much convenience unless the plan is to start it in the morning so you can come home to hot soup. Be careful though, lentils tend to break down over time so if you cook this for more than about 6 hours you may end up with lentil puree instead of individual beans.