My Fall Resolutions

I have given myself two resolutions for this fall: make more soup and finish my quilt. I also have all of these wild ideas for fall decorations, like this and this and even this but I'm forcing myself to be reasonable. Two resolutions is enough to begin with.

And so, I stuck to my resolution today and made soup for one of our first really fall-ish days. It's called Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Escarole. You can find it here, although I made several changes so I'm going to reproduce it on the blog with my own suggestions. Joel loved it so much he said he would eat it every night.

Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Spinach (Yes, I even changed the title!)

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 (main course) servings

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces of lentils, rinsed well
• 5 cups water
• 3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 Turkish bay leaf
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 pound spicy ground Italian sausage.
  
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped (okay, I didn't actually add these because we both hate celery, but I'm sure it would be better with it.
  
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 pound spinach, chopped.
  
• 1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

IN THE MORNING:

Simmer lentils, water, broth, bay leaf, and half of garlic in a 4-quart pot, uncovered, 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a wide heavy 5- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown sausage and break into chunks, about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl.Drain most of grease.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, carrots, celery, remaining garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add sausage and lentils with cooking liquid and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Put in the fridge until about 5, then reheat. 5 minutes before serving...

Stir in spinach and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf (yes, I did keep the bay leaf in all day. Daring, I know).

Serve with crusty bread.

The reason I made it in the morning and then reheated for an hour is because a lot of the reviews complained that it was a little bland. But some daring cooks let it simmer on the stovetop for like three hours, adding water the whole time, and said it was fantastic. And since I get off work at 5 and do not have time to prepare a three hour meal, I thought I would make it in the morning and let the juices mix all day and see how it worked. And it was fantastic1

So there you have it. Yummy soup number one. Now I have my eye on the butternut squash currently decorating my coffee table. Its days are numbered.