Cajun Lentil & Sausage Soup

2/6/2021 – The original recipe was a Copy Cat of Carrabba’s famous soup that we liked a lot. As we did not have Italian sausage we used Conecuh’s Hot (i.e. Alabama level, not really hot) Cajun Sausage and a small ham bone with a little ham on it. The soup was easy to assemble and was good.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 4″ long ham bone knuckle with a little ham on it
  • 1 lb. Conecuh Hot Cajun sausage, chopped into ½” thick coins
  • 1 half of a medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped into ½” pieces
  • 2 average carrots, chopped into ½” pieces
  • 2 cups of Mary’s chicken broth
  • 1 (14½ ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 3 large garlic cloves, chopped coarsely
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus more (another teaspoon) to taste when done
  • 1½ cups dry brown lentils
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes from cayenne peppers grown in our garden
  • ½ teaspoon basil
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • ½ teaspoon parsley
  • ½ teaspoon thyme

PREPARATION

  1. Boiled ham bone for an hour in the large blue enamel lined stockpot.
  2. Added sausage and frozen lump of broth. Stirred occasionally until returned to a light boil.
  3. In teh mean time, measured the lentils into a 2-cup measuring container and added all other ingredients.
  4. Brought the ham and sausage back to a gentle boil.
  5. Add the measuring cup with all its ingredients. Reduced heat bring it back to a very gentle boil without the lid to let some of the liquid steam off.
  6. Simmer all total for about 1 hour and the lentils were tender.
  7. Adjusted salt level.
  8. Let rest for 2 hours.