Lentil and Smoked Sausage Soup

I’m not generally a huge sausage fan. But we were looking for a way to use some of the cabbage we had left from making pierogies, and this recipe sounded delicious. I subbed spicy chicken sausage and halved the amount of cayenne (we love it hot but have had…mishaps with cayenne in the recent past). I think I’ll slice the sausage next time instead of dicing to get bigger bites of the flavor.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

7 ounces dry lentils

1 small onion, chopped

3/4 cup finely shredded green cabbage

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 vegetarian smoked sausages, diced

1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 cubes vegetable bouillon

4 cups water

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir in lentils, onion, cabbage, and garlic; cook until tender.
3. Stir in sausage and tomatoes.
4. Crumble vegetable cubes over mixture and pour in water.
5. Stir in bay leaf, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
6. Bring to a boil; cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.