Hungarian hot sausage and lentil stew

I started this blog originally so that I would have a central place for the recipes I've tried and liked. You see a recipe, you bookmark it, or save it in your collection of Epicurious recipes, and a couple of weeks later you just don't remember where it came from. Then I wanted to improve the pictures that accompany the recipes, and started subscribing to different food blogs. And now, a few years later, I have decided I want to - maybe not every time, just occasionally add a few lines of the memories that go with the recipes. Or, maybe even add blog entries just for things to remember, with recipes...Let's just see where this grows and where it takes me...

The inspiration for this recipe, quite honestly, came from the fact that I had a cookbook someone gave me years ago that I have never made a single recipe from. I was looking through the cookbooks on my bookshelf, and thought it was time this book stopped collecting dust...so I flipped through it, and found this recipe - most likely the reason I was given this book...So, I decided to give it a try, with the modification of using soy chorizo sausage from Trader Joe's in place of the original Italian sausage it calls for. And the result was quite tasty, a nice, spicy, heavy winter evening warming soup. We watched a German movie with it Maybe, Maybe Not - a light comedy from the 90's.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lb. Italian sausage, or soy chorizo sausage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 oz mushroom, diced
1 cups  diced carrots
1 cups lentils
1 large potato, peeled and diced
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons smoked paprika, or 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tsp sweet paprika and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp rosemary or 3 fresh sprigs, tied together
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
4 cups broth
4 cups kale or chard, hard stems removed and chopped

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add chopped sausage and brown for 2-3 minutes, then add garlic, onions and mushroom. Cook a few minutes then add carrots, lentils, potatoes, salt, pepper, bay leaf, paprika and rosemary. Add tomatoes and broth, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes and lentils are almost done. Add kale or chard, and cook for another minute or two. Remove bay leaves, and if using, fresh rosemary sprigs.