Love soup?!?!

It's the winter.. so nothing says winter like a good bowl of soup! Last night I made a delicious potato soup.. tonight, I wanted something with a little of meat and a little of spice! SOOOO.. I remembered tasting this soup that my hubby had at Carrabba's (www.carrabbas.com) a sausage soup with lentils.. so my search was on! I found this fabulous recipe on www.recipezaar.com and it is DELICIOUS! ENJOY!

Here is the recipe- I actually ended up using 3 cups more of water *instead of chicken stock* and added an extra 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes!

SERVES 8

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 cup carrot, grated
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb Italian sausage, spicy hot and in bulk
1/2 cup ham, diced
7 cups water
5 cups chicken broth
1 lb lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 tomato, diced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in large soup pot. Add onion, carrot, garlic, and sausage to the pot, Saute for 8 minutes, stirring often. Break up the sausage into small bits as it cooks.
2. Add ham and cook for an additional minute.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1 hour.