Lentil Soup with Sausage and Ricotta

I was getting ready to plate our dinner (featured above)—BBQ Brisket, a recipe from a favorite new cookbook, “Earth To Table Every Day,” when Susan called out to me, “Bruce. Nick Stellino is about to come on TV and he’s making soups.”

We love watching him on TV; “the storyteller in the kitchen.” And what a great storyteller he is.

One of the soups he featured is his lentil soup with sausage and ricotta. Inspired by the simple ingredients, I made it the day after we enjoyed our BBQ Brisket. Here’s his recipe:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra light olive oil

5 cloves garlic, cut thickly

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup finely chopped carrots

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon C&H Golden Brown Sugar

1 pound cooked sweet Italian sausages, cut into 1/4” dice (I used hot sausage.)

1/2 cup white wine (I didn’t have white wine so I used Sake.)

1 cup dry lentils

2 cups beef stock

1 cup tomato sauce (I didn’t have sauce so I used a can of chopped tomatoes.)

1 cup ricotta

1 tablespoon ground black pepper (optional)

Directions

Stir the oil and the garlic in a nonstick pot over medium-high heat for 1 minute.

Add the red pepper flakes, stir, and cook for about 1 minute until the garlic starts to brown.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion, celery, carrots, and brown sugar. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the sausages and cook for 2 minutes, stirring well.

Pour in the wine, stir, and cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in the lentils and cook for 1 minute.

Add the beef stock and tomato sauce, Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Serve in soup or, as I prefer, pasta bowls. Top each serving with a tablespoon of fresh ricotta and a pinch of ground pepper.

We used the leftover brisket to make BBQ Brisket sandwiches with coleslaw and peanuts. YUM!

One last thing. We learned about the cookbook when we visited Hamilton, Ontario where there is a Earth To Table restaurant, where we enjoyed dinner a few times. You can read about our trip to Hamilton here.

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