Irish Sausage and Lentil Soup

Well, I promised this way back on St Patrick's day, but I made the mistake of not taking a picture of the soup before it was eaten, and I don't post recipes without pictures, so I waited to make it again so I could add the picture. Plus, I also worked out a couple problems with the recipe so now it should be easier to follow the instructions =)

This is a recipe that goes into my promotion for my upcoming novel Blood Ties one of Lady Mac Cool's recipes (AKA, Ciran's mum in the book). Although with six kids, five of which are boys, she's probably have to make this times ten.

Let me know if you make it, or if you have any questions! I don't write a lot of recipes so I am curious to see if it's easy to follow :P

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups beef stock plus two cups water (lentils take up a lot of water so you’ll need extra)

1lb ground sausage meat (I used original Jimmy Dean’s)

1 cup uncooked lentils

3 to 4 potatoes

Half a head of cabbage

1 cup frozen corn

1 Tbs dehydrated onions (or fresh if you prefer)

1 tsp basil and time

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook sausage meat until browned add dehydrated onions while cooking. Add oil if needed. Once meat is cooked, pour in beef stock and another cup and a half of water then add spices. Once everything is stirred up, pour in lentils. Cooking instructions for the lentils should be on the bag, but usually takes about 20-30 minutes to cook fully.

While cooking, dice potatoes and cut the cabbage. You can also add carrots and/or peas if you wish. You may need to add more water to the broth when the lentils are cooking, that’s up to you. Add potatoes and corn after about fifteen minutes, then continue to cook the soup for another fifteen at a low boil, or until the lentils and potatoes are soft. Add the cabbage at the end so it doesn’t get overcooked.

Serve with Irish soda bread and cheese. Serves about 8