Inside the Despana Basket: Lentejas and Salchichon

I've been waiting till the temperatures cooled a bit, before using the lentils (Lentejas) in our Despana Basket. The advantage of jarred lentils, over dried, is that you don't have to rehydrate them. That's why I call it a Quick Lentil Soup; it's relatively faster and easier.

It's taken us a while to go through all the fabulous meats in our basket, but we're finally down to the last one, Slachichon, a dry cured sausage. It's delicious eaten as is, similar to salami, just thinly slice it, and have a glass of wine, maybe some cheese, ahh...I decided to throw some into the soup for extra flavor.


Quick Lentil Soup

• 2 ounces salchichon, cut into 1/4" pieces
• 1 leek, cut into thin rings (about 2 cups)
• 1 carrot chopped into 1/4" pieces (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 (1.5 lb) jar natural lentils, rinsed and drained

1. In a large dutch oven, heat the salchichon on high heat until it gives off fat, about 2 minutes.
2. Add leeks, carrots, onion, and stir until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth and lentils and bring to a boil.
4. Turn down to a simmer and cook covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.



You won't believe how something so simple and so easy can taste so good. It's healthy too!