Lentil soup is a pan-European staple with many variations across German and French-speaking regions. This Alsatian version of the dish uses a hot-smoked sausage instead of the more typical blood sausage or Lyoner/Bologna sausage found elsewhere in Germany.
Alsatian Lentil Soup
Lentil soup is a pan-European staple with many variations across German and French-speaking regions. This Alsatian version of the dish uses a hot-smoked sausage instead of the more typical blood sausage or Lyoner/Bologna sausage found elsewhere in Germany.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 Medium-Large Onion
- 1 Large Carrot
- 3 Garlic Cloves
- Olive Oil for frying
- 500 g Green Lentils The exact type doesn't really matter as long as they are fully cooked within 40 minutes. (In France, they would insist on using Le-Puy Lentils)
- 2 L Chicken Broth
- Salt
- Pepper
- Rosmary for Garnish
- 300 g Smoked Sausage In this case, use a hot smoked sausage like Montbéliard or Morteau. The Germans prefer cold-smoked sausages, e.g., Ahle or Salami.
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and the garlic together, and chop the carrot into small cubes.
- Fry the vegetables over medium-high heat in a sufficietly large soup pot until the onion is translucent, and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Add the broth, lentils, and sausage to the pot and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the sausages from the pot and let the soup cook for another 30 minutes.
- At this point, puree the soup with an immersion blender. The extent to which you puree the soup is a matter of taste. Traditionally, some of the lentils were manually crushed in order to thicken the soup somewhat. However, a complete puree may be more visually appealing.
- Slice the sausage into the desired portion sizes, and return to the soup.
- Season with Salt and Pepper and serve.