Lentil Stew with Sweet Italian Sausage and Apples

It's always interesting when people tell me they've never eaten lentils. This because lentils have been part of the human diet since neolithic times - but in the modern age of highly processed foods, legumes like lentils tend to get overlooked.

This is a shame because lentils are easy to prepare, tasty, and a great way to stretch your dollar budget. In fact, this is why I have so many lentil recipes on this blog - because I just love them. On their own in a vegetarian stew, slow roasted with salmon, or cooked with a protein like bacon, ham, or Italian sausage.

Which brings us to today's recipe for Lentil Stew with Sweet Italian Sausage and Apples.

Filled to the brim with vegetables like carrots, celery, onions, turnip, new potatoes, and spinach, this dollar stretching meal is the perfect way to warm up on a cold winter day. And the addition of sweet Italian sausage, fresh thyme, and apple adds a depth of flavor to this stew that is so delicious it's almost surprising.

This is what I love about cooking - it gives me the opportunity to take real ingredients like nutrient rich vegetables, fiber filled lentils, iron rich greens, and turn them into a dish that could be served to your family on a busy weeknight, or at a dinner party with friends because it really is that impressive.

Serve this with a crusty loaf of your favorite Italian or french bread and a crisp glass of cold, dry apple cider and, as always, let me know if you try this recipe.

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Visit the printable recipe here: Lentil Stew with Sweet Italian Sausage and Apples

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Lentil Stew with Sweet Italian Sausage and Apples

Ingredients

• 5 sweet Italian sausages, sliced and halved
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 bundle of fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup apple cider, apple juice, or apple wine
• 1 cup green lentils
• 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 large carrots, peeled and large diced
• 1 small turnip, peeled and cubed
• 6 baby potatoes, peels on and cubed
• 1 apple, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup spinach, chopped
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar

Directions

1. Brown the sausage, celery, and onion in a large non stick pan until the onion begins to get soft (app. five minutes)
2. Add the garlic, continue to saute another minute stirring constantly. Add the thyme bundle, the apple cider and the lentils. Stir until everything is incorporated and the liquid has been absorbed into the lentils.
3. Add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and then turn to med low. Cover and simmer stirring occasionally for 45 minutes.
4. Add the carrots, turnip, potato and apple. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
5. Add the chopped spinach and vinegar. Continue covered at a simmering boil over med low heat for 5 minutes until the spinach is cooked. 
6. Remove pot from heat and let sit covered for 15 minutes before serving.

Lyndsay Wells is a professional trainer, writer, and program developer with a passion for food and cooking. She is an award winning recipe developer, a former website ambassador for Kraft Foods Canada, the $20,000.00 winner of the online competition "The Real Women of Philadelphia" and a finalist on the Food Network Canada show Recipe to Riches. Lyndsay believes cooking should be approachable and easy and has great tips and ideas for putting together sophisticated looking dishes that cooks of all levels can accomplish.