My first attempt with lentils

**LudwigVan** · 06-15-2009, 04:48 PM

This is aimed towards anyone who has cooked with lentils before...

I just put an improvised beef, veggie and lentil soup on the stove to boil...and as I was told the back of the lentil bag would have instructions, all it really says is "boil them".

So my question is how long should it take for them to be edible?

**Badawg** · 06-15-2009, 05:07 PM

Simmer them on low heat for an hour. They are good that way. One of my favorite ways to cook them is in Coconut milk sand curry powder. Really good that way...

**crashdive123** · 06-15-2009, 05:37 PM

I love lentils (and split peas). They are so easy to prepare.

My wife picked up a cook book recently (More Super Secret Restaurant Recipes) and recently made a version of Crrabba’s spicy sausage lentil soup. Here it is.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced onion
¾ cup grated and minced carrot
1 tablespoon mined garlic
1 pound uncooked hot Italian sausage
2 ounces diced ham (about ½ cup)
7 cups water
5 cups chicken broth
1 pound dry lentils
1 medium tomato, diced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Heat up olive oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Remove sausage from casing and add it to the pan. Sauté for 8 minutes, stirring often. Break up the sausage into bite-sized bits as it cooks. Add ham and cook for an additional minute.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Serve

Makes 12 to 13 cups

**LudwigVan** · 06-15-2009, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by crashdive123

I love lentils (and split peas). They are so easy to prepare.

My wife picked up a cook book recently (More Super Secret Restaurant Recipes) and recently made a version of Crrabba’s spicy sausage lentil soup. Here it is.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced onion
¾ cup grated and minced carrot
1 tablespoon mined garlic
1 pound uncooked hot Italian sausage
2 ounces diced ham (about ½ cup)
7 cups water
5 cups chicken broth
1 pound dry lentils
1 medium tomato, diced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1. Heat up olive oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Remove sausage from casing and add it to the pan. Sauté for 8 minutes, stirring often. Break up the sausage into bite-sized bits as it cooks. Add ham and cook for an additional minute.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Serve

Makes 12 to 13 cups

I loved carraba's lentil soup! I'll deffinately try that.

Mine is just sorta improvised, I didn't even measure ingredients:

Almost a pound of ground beef
Handfull of chopped onions
spoonfull of chopped garlic (in olive oil)
big handfull of sliced carrots
1 stalk of celery, sliced
2/3 of a pound of lentils
handfull of yellow squash, diced
1 can of diced tomato
1 pack or knorr vegetable soup & dip mix
1 spoonfull of bullion paste

**crashdive123** · 06-15-2009, 05:53 PM

That's the neat thing about soup - whatever you have handy can usually be thrown in. Your recipe looks good.

**LudwigVan** · 06-15-2009, 06:25 PM

Yep it was good, one slight problem though,

When all was said and done I noticed that the soup at the bottom of the pot had burned and was crusted onto the bottom. Now I'm really new at cooking, and as I said before this was what I threw in a pot because I was hungry and could scrape up around here.

I think it has to do with the method I used, I browned the beef in the soup pot first the turned it off and left it in there while I chopped all the veggies and everything. I think the grease solidified at the bottom, which may be my problem. What I would usually do is brown the beef in an iron skillet seperate and drain the grease off it before putting it in the water with vegetables.

**crashdive123** · 06-15-2009, 06:29 PM

When I make soups that use legumes I make sure I stir them often. That and making sure the heat is lowered so it will simmer - not continue as a rolling boil.

If you try that recipe I posted, let me know how it compares to Carabas - we don't eat out often anymore, but liked how this looked. Just curious if it is close to what they serve.