Kale Sausage Lentil Skillet Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the EVOO in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, crumbling with a wooden spoon, until browned. Add the garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, carrots, onions and potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are soft, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the kale and nutmeg. Add the wine to deglaze the pot, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the chicken stock and 2 cups water and bring to boil (for thicker soup, use 2 cups less liquid).
• Stir in the lentils and cook at a low, bubbly simmer until the lentils are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the rosemary stems and bay leaves.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of EVOO and the shaved Pecorino.

Steps:

• In a large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a spatula, until it is in small, coarse pieces, and starts to brown and sizzle in its own fat, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked sausage to a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker. There should be a thin layer of fat covering the bottom of the skillet. If there is much more than that, pour a bit of the fat off. If there is not enough fat to cover the bottom of the pan, add a drizzle of olive oil.
• Add the onion to the skillet, season generously with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, add garlic and cook until softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic powders, the herbs, red-pepper flakes and several generous grinds of black pepper. Stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high, pour in the wine and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot. Let the wine bubble until the pan is almost dry, about 3 minutes.
• Scrape the skillet mixture into the slow cooker with the sausage. Add the bay leaf and the lentils. Add the tomatoes with their juice. If using whole, crush the tomatoes into pieces using your hands as you add them with their juice. Pour in the chicken stock. Season generously with pepper and add 1/2 teaspoon salt if you are using low-sodium stock or 1 teaspoon salt if using homemade unsalted stock. Do not add salt now if you are using fully salted stock. Stir well to combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low until the lentils are tender, about 6 to 8 hours. (Taste the lentils to make sure they are firm but creamy on the inside; black lentils can vary in their cooking time depending on their age and the heat of your slow cooker.) The soup holds well on warm for 2 additional hours.
• Switch the heat to high. Remove and discard the thyme sprigs. Stir in the greens and cook until wilted and tender, about 2 minutes for baby spinach, 10 minutes for kale. Stir in the vinegar. Serve in bowls, topped with chopped basil and grated Parmesan.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, carrots and onion over medium-high heat until sausage is no longer pink, breaking up sausage into crumbles, 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 2 minutes longer. Drain., Place tomatoes and red peppers in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Add to sausage mixture; stir in lentils, broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally., Stir in kale; cook until lentils and kale are tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Freeze option: Freeze cooled stew in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally.

Steps:

• In a soup pot or large Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Add the sausage, breaking it into pieces, and cook until lightly brown. Add the onions, celery, carrots, potato, chile pepper, rosemary, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper, and cook to soften, 8 to10 minutes.
• Wilt in the kale, and season the kale leaves with a little freshly grated nutmeg. Stir in the tomato paste for 30 seconds, then add white wine. Cook to reduce by 1/2 and stir in the lentils, stock, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer the soup until the lentils are tender, about 35 minutes. Serve immediately or cool, store, and reheat. Serve with chopped celery greens, to garnish.

Steps:

• In large skillet, heat 1 tsp of the oil over medium heat and cook sausages until browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer to a clean cutting board.
• Add remaining 2 tsp oil and the onion to pan and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
• Add water and wine, increase heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.
• Add lentils, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, partially covered 40 minutes.
• Add kale, sage and salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the lentils and kale are tender, about 10 minutes more.
• Slice sausages and stir into pan along with pepper.
• Cover and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.