LENTIL & HAM SOUP
This hearty soup is delicious packed in a thermos for the
lunch box. Freeze extra in quart containers for a quick supper.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups dried lentils picked over and rinsed
- 6 cups ham, veggie or chicken stock
- 1 cup chopped carrots about 2 – 3
- 1 cup chopped celery or celeriac
- 1 small shallot chopped (or small onion)
- 1 garlic glove finely chopped
- 2 cups tomato sauce or chopped tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chopped ham or more
- 8 ounces pork sausage cooked
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, thyme)
- sea salt and fresh pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and pick over the lentils and add to a large soup pot. Add the stock.
- Coarsely chop the carrots, celery, shallot, and garlic.
- Add the chopped veggies, bay leaf, oregano, and tomato puree to the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat; cover and simmer for 40 minutes or more until the vegetables and lentils are tender.
- Chop the ham.
- Cook and crumble the sausage.
- Chop the fresh herbs.
- When the lentils are soft, remove the soup from the heat. Remove the bay leaf. If desired, puree a portion of the soup to make it creamy.
- Stir in the chopped ham, cooked sausage and fresh herbs.
- Taste the soup and season to taste with Maine sea salt and fresh pepper.
Notes
Makes about 12 cups.
Nutritional analysis per cup: 183 calories, 13 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams fat, 780 mg. sodium, 7 grams fiber.