Hearty and Flavorful Lentil Soup

This recipe came about after I attended a German festival and had the best lentil soup I've ever had in my life.  Until then, I don't think lentil soup is something that would have come to my mind when thinking of a soup that would knock my socks off.  Maybe I'm just overly zealous about soup, but it was so delicious that I had a second bowl instead of one of those scrumptious German pastries.  If that doesn't tell you how good it was, then I don't know what will.  This is my attempt at recreating that soup and I think I got pretty darn close to the original.  The only thing that could use some tweaking is the amount of liquid in the soup because it thickens up so fast.  However, that is an easy problem to fix by just adding more stock or water whenever you notice it thickening too much.  

Note to fellow Catholics and those of you that are vegetarian-

Yes, I realize I took a dish that's both Lenten and vegetarian friendly and put both sausage and bacon in it, but that's where so much of the flavor comes from!  If you should choose to do so, you can easily accommodate your needs by leaving out the sausage and bacon (and adding more vegetables) and using olive oil instead of bacon grease.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon bacon grease (save from cooking bacon)
2 small onions, diced or minced (about 1 cup)
1 lb dry brown lentils, washed and drained
1 teaspoon dried marjoram (This is a spice that's worth buying for this recipe if you don't already have some)
6-7 + cups chicken, turkey, or veggie stock
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
bacon, cooked and chopped (no less than 1/2 package)
smoked sausage, sliced into bite-sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste


1. Cook the bacon in a skillet and then set aside, saving the grease.  

2. Brown the onions in 1 tablespoon of grease (use extra olive oil if you don't have enough grease).

3. Add lentils and dried marjoram to onions and cook 1 minute.

4. Add 6-7 cups of stock and bring to a slow boil.  Cook 25 minutes.

5. Add potatoes, carrots, celery and cook 35 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

6. Add the sausage, bacon, salt and pepper and cook until sausage is heated through. Add more stock or water if the soup is too thick.

Enjoy!