Soup For Supper

I knew late days were coming so I pre-made this soup -- up to stirring in the home grown escarole -- to have dinner ready in a jiffy. I cooked lentils in water and chicken broth with chopped garlic and fresh bay leaves from our garden. In a separate pot I sautéed bite-sized slices of Italian sausage until browned. I removed the sausage from the pan and cooked minced garlic, chopped onions, carrots and celery in the sausage fat (along with a little olive oil) then added back in the sausage and the lentils in their liquid, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked until the lentils were tender. At that point I put the soup away in the fridge until tonight when I brought it back up to a simmer, added in big handfuls of chopped escarole and allowed the soup to bubble for about 3 minutes until the greens were tender. To serve I sprinkled the soup with parmesan cheese and heated up some homemade bread from the freezer. A perfect late night dinner.