Sausage & Lentil Soup

My husband has always loved the Sausage and Lentil soup from Carrabba's, and almost always orders it. I probably bought a bag of green lentils about six months ago in hopes to replicate there recipe... well the time finally came where I was ready to tackle the lentil, and of course what better way to tackle it first than by making it in soup! It cooks much quicker than most beans, and tastes delicious! I started google searching for recipes, and found this recipe on recipezaar. I tweaked it just a tad since I only had half a package of sausage (it had been sitting in my freezer for a little while, and I wanted to use it up)! Therefore I didn't add as many lentils called for. The recipe also called to puree a cup of the soup, and I never got around to doing that either. You can do it if you want too, but I kept it just as is! It made for a delicious Saturday afternoon lunch, and will add a little extra spunk to our sometimes dull lunches!

Prep: 15 minutes
Total: 1-2 hours 
Serves: 6-8

Brown the sausage (and add the garlic) in a large soup pot. Make sure you are constantly breaking the sausage apart just as you would do for ground beef, drain fat off once browned. *I didn't have much at all, so I kept it in.  Add the lentils, and stir until they are all moist (1-2 minutes). Add all the remaining ingredients except for the Parmesan cheese. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 1-2 hours or until lentils are tender. Add more stock if desired. Once the soup is cooked you can puree one cup if desired and then add this back to the soup pot. This will give it a thicker consistency. Ladle soup into bowl, and sprinkle with Parmesan reggiano. Enjoy!Side Suggestions: crusty bread, salad, sandwich, etc...