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
- Boiled ham bone for an hour in the large blue enamel lined stockpot.
- Added sausage and frozen lump of broth. Stirred occasionally until returned to a light boil.
- In teh mean time, measured the lentils into a 2-cup measuring container and added all other ingredients.
- Brought the ham and sausage back to a gentle boil.
- 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.
- Simmer all total for about 1 hour and the lentils were tender.
- Adjusted salt level.
- Let rest for 2 hours.
