The first significant snow of the season has fallen upon New Jersey and if that isn't a call to make a hearty soup, I don't know what is. As a general rule, the Soup Lady tries to avoid restaurant soup. I know I'm not the only one who thinks that's how they get rid of yesterday's leftovers. The one soup in this category that cannot be resisted is Carrabba's Sausage and Lentil Soup.
The soup is spicy (another tip-off that the ingredients are not quite fresh) but in this case I chose to ignore that. It's not hard to reproduce at home - this is my stab at it. A small green salad, some nice bread and some fresh fruit at the end is all you need to make this a completely satisfying meal.
Sausage and Lentil Soup
1. In a large saucepan, heat one tablespoon of oil. Add one carrot - diced, two stalks of celery- diced, one large onion- chopped and two cloves of crushed garlic. Saute until tender.
2. Remove vegetables from the pan and and add one pound of hot Italian sausage, removed from the casing, to the pan. Brown the drain off fat.
3. In a large stockpot, place eight cups of chicken broth, the sauteed vegetables and the sausage meat. Open two cans of whole tomatoes, break them up by squeezing them with your hands and add to the soup along with the juice. Add two cups of dried lentils which have been washed according to package directions.
4. Season with one teaspoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds and one bay leaf.
5. Simmer until the lentils are tender, 30-45 minutes. Remove 1/3 of the soup and puree it using an hand-held blender, then return it to the pot. Correct seasonings and remove bay leaf.
The Soup Lady likes it hot, so I added a bit more red pepper. Sometimes I like to add a 10 oz. package of frozen spinach to the pot, or to serve it with some red wine vinegar floating on top.
Sounds good - but which type Le Puy, green, brown yellow or red lentils? I have no idea what I'm talking about - the only place I have ever noticed lentils were those already in soup someone has made.
Posted by: Emlighten-NewJersey | December 13, 2005 at 08:19 PM
Okay, I am so making this after the holidays. Yum!
Posted by: shelley ju | December 21, 2005 at 11:13 PM
Best Sausage and Lentil soup, as good or better than Carraba's.
Posted by: JIm | January 11, 2006 at 03:47 PM
What size cans of whole tomatoes? Thanks
Posted by: Frank Jacobsen | January 29, 2006 at 08:40 PM
Definitely a great recipe; I echo the comment that it's as good or better than Carraba's. I only used one can of tomatoes and it turned out great...will look at the can size and post when I get home.
Posted by: Lindsay Harris | September 22, 2006 at 03:20 PM
I believe the sausage in the soup at Carrabbas may be Cherzio spicy sausage ?
Posted by: Mary Ellen DeSimone | December 29, 2006 at 07:43 AM
I HAVE BEEN MAKING THE SAUSAGE & LENTIL SOUP FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW AFTER ENJOYING A BOWL AT CARRABA'S. I USE KNORR'S VEGTABALE BOULLION CUBES INSTEAD OF CHICKEN STOCK AND I SOAK THE LENTILS OVER NIGHT. IT REALLY DOES THE TRICK! YUM
Posted by: GAIL GRAY | February 01, 2007 at 01:42 PM
I used to work at Carrabba's and this is one of the best soups we had. FYI - They use Italian Sausage. The soup - as are all soups - is much better the second day. NONE OF CARRABBA'S SOUPS ARE MADE FROM LEFTOVERS! Each soup is made from scratch in each restaurant. In fact, most soups only last 48 hours and then are thrown away!
Posted by: Vanessa H. | February 05, 2007 at 01:54 AM
PERFECT!!
Posted by: Ana F. | March 20, 2007 at 06:13 PM
I came across this page when I was looking for a good lentil soup recipe. I respectfully beg to differ over one comment you made in regards to Carrabba's recipe. "The soup is spicy (another tip-off that the ingredients are not quite fresh) but in this case I chose to ignore that."
I was an employee of this company for over 4 years and I can promise you that the ingredients are indeed fresh, as they are in all Carrabba's recipes. This is one of Carrabba's strict standards, and it is one thing that puts them a step or two up from imitators such as Olive Garden and Macaroni Grill. If you had ever been in the back of a Carrabba's kitchen when the prep work was done, you would have seen the amount of labor that goes into say, making the herb mix used with olive oil for dipping. Every product has strict guidelines for how long it can be kept before being thrown away, most, as another "poster" said, within 48 hours, or less. Produce and other product is thoroughly checked before being accepted into the store. Nothing that doesn't meet Carrabba's high standardsis let in, and nothing that doesn't meet the company's high standards goes out to the guests.
Posted by: Mary Totin | July 13, 2007 at 07:53 AM
You also might be interested to know that the sausage is fresh too, comes from a recipe creasted by one of the founder's parents.
Posted by: Mary Totin | July 13, 2007 at 01:32 PM
Soup Lady, where have you been all my life? I LOVE soup, and stumbled onto this blog post via a google search for Carrabba's Lentil Soup. I had it on my honeymoon and it was love at first bite. Thank you for your "interpretation" of the recipe! My husband and I look forward to trying it out.
Posted by: Starshine | July 16, 2007 at 05:51 PM
OK! Can you please tell me what size the canned tomatoes are?
Posted by: Ed | August 09, 2007 at 07:42 AM
I had it first at Carrabba's and loved it - tried it at home and Hubby also loved it. Thank you Soup Lady!!
Posted by: Nancy | August 22, 2007 at 07:05 PM
is this the same as mama mandolo's spicy sicilian soup that i had in aug.at carrabbas? i thought it had small pasta in it not lentils
Posted by: laur | September 05, 2007 at 04:36 PM
i just made this soup and it was amazing, for sure better the next couple of days... has anyone made the spicy lentil and pumpkin soup, i am going for that one next week with my recent success with this one! any tips other than what the recipe calls for?
Posted by: aimee | September 14, 2007 at 05:59 PM
Weather beginning to cool down a bit on the North Carolina Coast. Time for soup again. I was trying to find my Sausage and Lentil soup recipe(and couldn't) so returned to this web site. It is great. Oh, I used 1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes in mine with the juice. I think it depends on how tomatoey you like it. Trish
Posted by: patricia | September 29, 2007 at 07:59 AM
Excellent duplicate of recipe! I used 6 14 oz cans of chicken broth and 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes...probably will use crushed tomatoes next time. Thanks for sharing this great soup recipe.
Posted by: Nancy Kerner | January 22, 2008 at 10:03 AM
I am like you in that I like hot and spicy. I have made this for years and love it. The difference is that I also give it a few shots of tabasco sauce just to finish it off. One of my all time favorite soups. I also love to make it with kielbasa in place of sausage and saute the kielbasa along with the veggies at the beginning once the veggies have started to get aromatic. The flavors add up if you do it this way. A sprinkle of vinegar, about a tbsp, also works to bring out the flavors as well.
Just found your website and am now going backwards to see all that you have. Your stuffed grapeleaves recipe is alread on my to do list as are a couple of the others. I would love to see a good recipe for falafel and tabbouleh and hummus and pita breads. I one had a landlady from Saudi Arabia who was going to give me some of her recipes but she never got around to it. She made all these things from scratch and they were fantastic.
Posted by: dick | February 05, 2008 at 10:06 PM
Amazing! Tastes just as great as at Carrabba's!!! Loved it. I served it to my family tonight and they all loved it too. THanks!
Posted by: Heather | February 28, 2008 at 07:54 PM