Stone Soup

When I was very young; young enough to watch Captain Kangaroo, I loved when the Captain would read books aloud, and Stone Soup was one of my favorites.  There are numerous versions of the story.  The one I recall from my childhood featured three soldiers, cold and hungry and coming to a small town with nothing but a small metal pot.

Image from Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth

Almost every culture has a version of this tale, and the one I read with my daughter when she was little told a version in which the strangers are three Chinese monks.  In each story there are a few strangers who arrive in a town begging for food, and are turned away by the townspeople who have little themselves.  The strangers then light a cooking fire in the middle of the town, fill their pot with water, and some stones, and stir the pot and talk.  Curious, the villagers come to see what they are doing, and then slowly they offer a bit from their meager stores to add to the soup; a potato, some carrots, in the Chinese version, dumplings are offered. Eventually the entire town has contributed to the stone soup, and then everyone sits down to share a meal of this communal soup.

Lentil soup is my version of stone soup.  I start with a pot and some lentils, and see what I can add to make a good soup.  I have not yet engaged my neighbors in this exercise, but that might be a fun idea for a party; to ask each guest to bring something to put into a soup, and to cook while everyone is there.  Today I had some kielbasa sausage, and the usual onion, carrots and celery.   This lentil soup is a pretty simple affair, and you can add anything tasty to make it your own.  If  I haven’t added any tomato I like to squeeze the juice of a lemon into it at the very end to brighten the flavor.

Lentil soup was the first soup I made by myself.  I loved Progresso Lentil Soup, and figured I would give it a try.  I have made many versions and permutations.  For this very basic soup I use brown lentils.  They have good texture and go well with all kinds of flavors.  I like to add spinach if I have some, and sometimes tomatoes, or rice, leftover chicken, or pork, ham hocks, the list is almost endless.  Food Network offers thirty-two lentil soup recipes, and Epicurious sixty-three.  Of course those include all varieties of lentils: brown; what you’ll find in bags at the grocery store, Puy, or French Green Lentils, which are smaller and have a firm texture and peppery taste; Red Lentils are most often used for dal, these are actually brown lentils with the hull removed.  Unlike the others, when you cook red lentils they dissolve into a puree. Then there are black, or beluga lentils; these are very small, and very firm, and are called beluga because they resemble Beluga caviar.

Here is the version I am making today, and which will yield a thick, hearty, soup for dinner.

Lentil and Sausage Soup

Print recipe

• Print with all photos
• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves	8-10
Meal type	Soup
Misc	Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot

This is a nice thick, and filling soup. Add salad and some bread for a simple dinner. You could easily make a vegetarian version by using vegetable stock and omitting the sausage. You could also add any type of sausage you like, a mix of mild and spicy might be nice; some chorizo or andouille.

Ingredients

• 1lb Brown Lentils
• 1 Large Onion (about 12 ounces, chopped fine)
• 3-4 stalks Clelery (Use the leafiest stalks, and chop fine)
• 2 Large Carrots (Cut into quarters and chopped)
• 12oz Kielbasa Sausage (Cut into quarters and chopped into 1/2)
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 quart Chicken Stock
• 1 Lemon (Juiced)
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
• Water as needed

Directions

Step 1

Heat Oil in large soup pot on medium heat

Step 2

Add onions to pot and stir, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, add celery and stir well, cook another 2 minutes

Step 3

Add sausage to pot, stir well and let cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. add carrots, stock, herbs and lentils

Step 4

Bring to a boil over medium heat, when soup reaches a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for one hour, adding water if needed after forty minutes, when done add the lemon juice and stir.