Happy Comebacks. Cooking in a clay pot.

To celebrate the last day of the National Soup Month, I made this quick and easy Spanish Sausage & Lentil soup. I’ve made it before several times.  The major difference this time — I tried it in a clay pot (bean pot). This beautiful Italian bean pot has been sitting idly in my cabinet for way too long.  I had a busy day at work yesterday, so didn’t have much time to tend to my dinner. I just threw everything together quickly and put it in the oven.

The soup turned out ridiculously delicious. It was rich, it was flavorful, and it required almost no effort to make, what more can you ask for?

Spanish Sausage & Lentils Soup

• 2 tbsp butter or tallow
• 4-6 links (1 to 1-1/2 lbs) of Chorizo (Mexican or Spanish) or similar spicy sausage, casings removed, torn or cut into bite size chunks
• 2 medium onions, halved and cut 3 times lengthwise and 3 times across
• 3 large thick carrots, cut into thick half rounds
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 cup white cooking wine
• 6 cups stock (chicken or beef)
• 1 cup whole lentils (I used French lentils)
• 3 cloves of garlic, slivered or chopped
• few sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 stick cinnamon (optional)
• 6 black peppercorns, cracked in a mortar

If you are using a bean pot, start your soup in a deep skillet. Otherwise, use a Dutch oven or other ovenproof pot.

Rinse and soak the lentils for 1 hr if desire. I didn’t.

Melt the fat over medium heat. Add sausage chunks and brown nicely on all sides.

Add onions and carrots at once, and saute with sausage for a few minutes. Add cumin, stir and saute some more.

Add wine (or just 1 cup of stock), scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spatula and stir well.

If using the clay pot, transfer everything into it now. Add remaining stock, lentils, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, garlic, cinnamon stick, salt and pepper, bring to a boil.

Heat the oven to 325°F. Cover the pot nicely and place into the oven. Cook for 2 hours (or more if desire), or until all the flavors have developed well, and lentils are tender.