Dealing with leftover turkey is often a problem. You might have a repeat of Thanksgiving dinner, Turkey Tretrazini was popular with my mother, sandwiches are always great, and eventually you’re left with a carcass. Turkey soup is a good possibility, but my favorite is lentil soup made with turkey broth. The flavors of the turkey and lentils are delightful complements — and if you happen to have smoked the turkey it’s even better. The other perfect complement to lentils is lemon.

One of the nice things about this soup is that it’s heavy enough to make a good winter meal and light enough to make a good summer meal. Not many dishes can lay claim to that flexibility.

I tend to like a thick soup with loads of lentils in just enough broth to require a bowl and spoon, but it’s your call.

Lentil Soup

1 roasted turkey carcass (smoked turkey is better, and a smoked ham hock works)
1 lb green lentils — washed and picked over
1 md yellow onion — peeled and cut into large chunks
1 md yellow onion — peeled and diced
1 lg carrot — cut into 1″ lengths
1 lg carrot — grated
1 stalk celery with greens attached — cut into 1″ lengths
1 tbsp lemon grass — ground
Bay leaf
2 tbsp olive oil
20 whole pepper corns
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Fresh lemons — cut into quarters

Stock: Break the turkey carcass into pieces and place in a stock pot. Add the chunks of onion and lengths of carrot and celery, lemon grass, bay leaf, and pepper corns to pot.

Add enough water to cover completely, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Skim off scum and discard. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour, adding additional water as needed to keep covered.

Remove carcass from pot. Pick off any meat, and chop finely. Strain broth into another pot or container and discard solids (except for any meat that may have fallen off, which should be chopped).

Soup: Add lentils and grated carrots to the now-empty stock pot. Saute diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until it begins to brown. Add to lentils and carrots. Add enough broth to cover lentils to a depth of 1 1/2 inches.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook for two hours, stirring occasionally and adding, as necessary, enough additional stock or water to keep the lentils under 1/2 inch of liquid. Remove from heat and stir in any chopped turky.

Serve with salt, pepper, and lemon wedges.

Kevin