Directions

• Rinse and soak your dehydrated lentils in water overnight before starting this recipe. Alternatively, if you have fresh lentils you can just use those instead.
• Bring your broth to a boil.
• Rinse and chop your parsley, celery, and green onion. Add to a pan with about 5 cloves of garlic, minced. Add enough olive oil to make sure all the vegetables and herbs are covered and set the heat to medium-low. Saute until fragrant.
• Add your hydrated lentils to the pan, and fry them with the vegetables. Add a tablespoon of butter and 3-5 tablespoons of crushed tomato sauce with basil.
• Add boiling broth to the pan, one ladle at a time, until the entire mixture has enough broth to cover ¾ of the lentils. You don’t want the mixture to be too dry, but you also don’t want to completely drown the lentils in broth. You can always slowly add broth to your liking until you’re happy with the consistency. Also, add about a cup of white wine.
• Slice your Capital Summer Sausage into ½-inch thick slices and add to the lentil stew. The sausage is already smoked and ready to eat, so you only need to heat it through! Make sure the sausage is able to be covered by the lentil stew, and cook everything together over medium heat until the meat is hot. At this time you may also optionally add some freshly cooked, or leftover Mariano’s Italian Sausage. Just make sure you don’t add raw meat directly to the lentil stew without cooking it separately first.
• Taste for seasoning, and add salt/pepper to taste. Stir and transfer to a serving dish.
• Enjoy with Polenta or any side of your choice!