Monday, January 25, 2010

Crock pot split pea, lentil, and sausage soup recipe


Welcome to soup week.  I'll try not to overwhelm you with them, but I have a lot to share.  I made several fabulous soups last week, including this one and the chicken and rice stew.  Then I decided that I should invite friends over for Sunday Night Dinner, and ended up making 4 more soups.  10 people, 4 pots of soup... you do the math.  I'm going to be eating soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next week (no, I'm not exaggerating).  So first I have to share this amazing soup, and then I'll get to the two favorites from soup night.  And I'll try to throw some other things in there to keep you on your toes.

One of my favorite things about Kalyn's Kitchen is that she includes a lot of hearty, but very healthy, meals.  I have a ton of her soups and stews bookmarked, and this got my attention last week.  Unfortunately I thought I had far more split peas than I actually had, so I ended up using half green split peas and half brown lentils.  I liked the mix, though - the split peas virtually disintegrate, while the lentils maintain their shape and give the soup a little bit more texture.  The second I walked in my door, I was overwhelmed by delicious smells, and it tasted just as wonderful.  I love that this soup is very filling, which is exactly what I want on a cold winter day.

Crock pot split pea, lentil, and sausage soup (adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen)
(Printable version)

12 oz. chicken sausage links (I used a spinach and garlic version), diced
1 onion, chopped
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (omit if you're using spicy sausage)
2 carrots, chopped
1 cup green split peas
1 cup brown lentils
3 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the diced sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the sausage to a large crock pot (I used a 5 1/2 quart).  Then add the onion to the skillet and saute until tender (you may need to add a little bit of oil if the sausage didn't have much fat).  Stir in the red pepper, cook for another minute, and then pour onions into the crock pot.  Add carrots, peas, lentils, stock, and water to the crock pot, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 6.

4 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

How fun, I was just checking the recipe to see if it would work for the phase one round-up and you were saying nice things about me! Thanks. I like the idea of combining split peas and lentils a lot.

Katie said...

Kalyn - I'm glad you like my version, and thanks for including it in the round-up!

Marisa said...

This looks so good I can't wait for winter to come!

Katie said...

Marisa - I'll gladly give up my winter early so it can come down to the southern hemisphere :)