Italian Sausage With Lentils Rice Recipes

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND LENTILS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add in sausages and cook just until browned (they will not be cooked through at this point.) Remove sausages from pot and set aside.
• To the pot, add chopped onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until the vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils and red wine, and cook for a minute. Pour in the canned tomatoes, broth, oregano, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add back in the sausages, pressing into the lentils. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally until lentils are al dente, about 30 minutes.
• Remove cooked sausages from pot. Stir in parsley. Serve lentils in a bowl with a link of sausage on top.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH LENTILS & RICE

Steps:

• In a 4-5 quart pan that has a tight fitting lid, over medium, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and once hot, add the onions and cook for three minutes.
• Add the garlic, water, broth, bay leaves, salt, pepper and Italian sausage links and bring to a boil.
• Cover and lower to a slow simmer and cook ten minutes.
• Remove sausages with tongs and drain on paper towels.
• Add the lentils to the pot, again cover and get to a low simmer and cook 30 minutes covered.
• While lentils are cooking, in a large saute pan, add the last tablespoon of oil and over medium heat, brown the sausages for about ten minutes, turning to brown all sides. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• Keep the heat on medium and add the wet Tuscan kale leaves and saute a few minutes until wilted, scraping up any brown bits from the pan bottom. Set this aside for now.
• After the lentils have been simmering for 30 minutes, add the dry rice and wilted kale, bring back up to a simmer (make sure there is about two cups of liquid left in pan, if not add a little more water or broth), cover and lower to lowest heat with pan half off burner. Set timer for 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, remove lid, find and discard the bay leaves, and stir in the canned tomatoes with juice.
• Press the cooked whole sausage links into the mixture to reheat, cover and let sit five minutes then serve on a platter with a little additional olive oil drizzled over the top of the platter or serving.

SAUSAGE WITH RICE AND LENTILS

Steps:

• In a medium stock pot, make the rice to package directions. Set aside.
• Boil lentils in another saucepan with 4 inches salted water and a bay leaf for 25-30 4. minutes, or until lentils are tender but still firm and not mushy. Drain and reserve half the cooking liquid.
• In a deep skillet, heat oil on medium heat, and saute the cumin seeds, onions, garlic, ginger, bell peppers and carrots for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Now add red chili flakes and salt to taste. Saute for 5 more minutes and then add sliced sausage.
• After 4-5 minutes, or when sausage is slightly browned at the edges, add drained lentils to skillet. Stir. Add 1/4 cup of the lentil cooking liquid.
• Swirl in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and add another 1/4 cup of lentil cooking liquid if needed. Stir to dissolve the paste well.
• Let the mixture simmer 5 more minutes and then turn off heat. Add juice of 1 lime and chopped fresh cilantro. Serve over plain rice.

ITALIAN SAUSAGES WITH LENTILS

Steps:

• For the lentils:
• Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil into a good-sized saucepan (and one that has a lid that fits) on the heat and when it's warm, add the chopped onion. Sprinkle with salt (which helps prevent its browning) and cook over low to medium heat until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the lentils, stir well and then cover generously with cold water. Bring to the boil, then cover and let simmer gently for 1/2 an hour or so until cooked and most, if not all, the liquid's absorbed. I don't add salt at this stage since the sauce provided by the sausages later (and which will be poured over the lentils) will be pretty salty itself. So, wait and taste. And remember, you can of course cook the lentils in advance.
• Anyway, when either the lentils are nearly ready or you're about to reheat them, put a heavy-based frying pan on the burner, cover with a film of oil and add the bruised garlic. Cook for a few minutes then add and brown the sausages. When the sausages are brown on both sides - which won't take more than 5 minutes or so - throw in the wine and water and let bubble up. Cover the pan, either with a lid or aluminum foil, and cook for about 15 minutes. Using a fork, mash the now-soft garlic into the sauce and taste for seasoning, adding a little more water if it's too strong.
• Remove the lentils to a shallowish bowl or dish (I evacuate the sausages from their cooking pan, plonk the lentils in, then proceed) then cover with the sausages and their garlicky, winey gravy. Sprinkle over some flat-leaf parsley.

LENTIL AND RICE SOUP WITH SAUSAGE (LOW FAT)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a soup pot over low heat.
• Saute the onions and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the carrot and sausage.
• Continue to cook till the onions are soft and golden.
• add the broth and bay leaf to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Add the lentils and rice and cook, covered, for about 45 minutes, or until lentils are soft.
• Add the salt, pepper and parsley. Cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove bay leaf.
• Serve garnished with croutons.