This is a favorite winter stew of mine–very inexpensive to make. It is tasty and uncommon enough to serve guests. The smoked turkey and smokey cumin, along with the hot, red curry gives this stew a savory and unique flavor. Here’s the recipe.

You can see how much I like this recipe…

Curried Lentil Stew
1 Pkg. Dried Lentils
3 Lg. Smoked Turkey Sausage Links, cut into cubes
2 Lg. Onions, diced
1 Sm. Pkg. Frozen Corn
1 Sm. Pkg. Frozen Peas
1 Cup Good, Dry, Red Table Wine
2 Cans Diced Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Uncooked Brown Rice
1-4 Heaping T. Hot Red Curry Paste (depends on how spicy you like it)
3 Heaping Tsp. Cumin Powder
2 Garlic Cloves, Finely Minced
2 Chicken Bullion Cubes
1 Cup Chopped Parsley for Garnish
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:
Rinse the dried lentils, dump into a large soup pot and cover with cold water. Add  1 tsp. salt and bring to a slow simmer, partially cover. Simmer gently until the lentils are tender. Don’t over cook, so they turn to mush.

While the lentils are simmering, dice and cube the turkey sausage links, onion, and garlic. Brown the turkey sausage in a frying pan with a little olive oil, scrape up all the tasty brown bits and add the chopped onion. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add garlic and continue sautéing and stirring until the garlic is cooked.

Add 1 cup red wine. Simmer together until more than half of the red wine is reduced. Stir occasionally.

To the cooked lentils add the rest of the ingredients, spices, and sausage/onion/garlic/wine mixture. Be sure to scrape all the bits from the pan to the soup mixture. This is the savory part of the stew. If 4 heaping tablespoons of hot, red curry paste is too spicy for you, then cut it down. Add water to fill the soup pot to the brim. Partially cover and slowly simmer together until the flavors are blended and rice is thoroughly cooked, about 30 minutes. Lentils should be thick like stew with some extra liquid.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, fresh, chopped parsley, and crusty bread with butter.