Sausage Lentil Soup Mix Ingredients:

Green and red lentils, rice, onions, carrots, celery, leeks, paprika and herbs. No added salt, preservatives or MSG.

Allergen Information: Gluten-Free

Recipe Additions:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound mild Italian sausage
12 cups beef broth
2 to 3 medium zucchini, diced
1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes
1 cup red wine

Sausage Lentil Soup Recipe Directions:

• Crumble and brown sausage in oil in a 6 or 8 quart pot.
• Rinse, drain and pick over lentils.
• Add lentils, vegetable packet and broth to pot.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, add zucchini after 30 minutes.
• Add tomatoes and wine to soup.
• Simmer, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes.

Vegetarian Soup Recipe Variation:

Start the soup with sautéing the vegetables that go into ratatouille: a red and green pepper, large onion, 2 medium zucchini, a small eggplant--cut up into 1-inch chunks. Add the soup mix and 8 cups broth. Simmer 45 minutes, add the tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes. Serve with grated parmesan cheese!

Inventive Soup Recipe Variations:

For variation, a box of frozen, chopped spinach may be substituted for the zucchini! This is a beautiful country supper!

Slow Cooker Recipe Directions:

• In large skillet crumble and brown sausage in oil, stir in contents of seasoning packet.
• Transfer to bowl of slow cooker and add broth. (May start soup night before and cover and refrigerate overnight.)
• Rinse, drain and pick over lentils, place into slow cooker and stir well.
• Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours.
• Add tomatoes, zucchini and wine and continue on HI 1 hour.

*This soup takes less than 2 hours to make on the stove, so the slow cooker may not offer much convenience.