Lentil Sausage Soup

Good hearty soup for a cold winter day. It freezes well and improves with age, so good for lunch left overs too.

Serves 6

Adapted from NY Times Cooking. The photo is theirs.

Ingredients:

• 1 pd. Italian sausage

• 1 red or yellow onion, diced

• 6 garlic cloves, chopped

• 3 thyme sprigs

• Pinch of red pepper flakes

• Salt and pepper

• 3/4 cup white wine

• 2 cups dried lentils, ideally french green ones (they have them at Trader Joes) 

• 1 14-oz. can chopped tomatoes

• 8 cups chicken stock

• 4 or more cups of chopped kale or spinach.

• Chopped basil, for serving

• Grated parmesan, for serving

Instructions

1. Crumble the sausage into a skillet on medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Blot the fat off and then transfer it to the slow cooker.

2. Wipe most of the fat out of the pan, leaving a thin layer. Add the diced onion and cook on medium heat until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Reduce the heat to low and add garlic. Cook until it's softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

4. Add the thyme sprigs, red pepper flakes, several grinds of black pepper and a pinch or so of salt. Stir to combine. Increase heat to high and add the white wine. Let it bubble until it's almost all evaporated, about 3 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the slow cooker.

5. Add the lentils, chopped tomatoes and chicken stock to the slow cooker. Stir it all to combine. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are tender, about 8 hours. The soup can sit on warm another few hours if necessary.

6. Increase the slow cooker heat to high. Fold in the chopped kale and/or spinach and cook until it's wilted (about 5 minutes for kale, less for spinach). 

7. Scoop some soup into each bowl. Sprinkle fresh basil on top and serve with grated parmesan.