Meaty, spicy, and oh so hearty.

The first time I made this soup, it immediately reminded me of my Grandma Dottie’s soup. I guess meat and lentils is a pretty good combo. For this version, I bought spicy Italian sausage and added harissa because yum spicy. If you have not discovered harissa yet, please go buy it. I first used it in a (shocker) Plated recipe (still RIP). And I now throw it into most of my tomato-based recipes (it goes great in shakshuka!) But if you want to tamp down the spice, feel free to buy mild sausage and skip the spice.

Also if you’re not a kale person, any green will do here. I bought fresh kale for this version because it looked good at the store. But I usually opt for the prepackaged bag and just dump the whole thing in.

I also used one of my homemade broths for this batch. It was one of the best scraps broth I’ve made!

*yields about 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage

• 1 medium yellow onion diced

• 2 celery stalks diced

• 2 carrots diced

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 4 cups chicken broth

• 2 cups dried lentils

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

• 5 cups baby kale leaves

• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Chop vegetables: Chop onion, carrots, and celery. Mince garlic.

2. Sauté meat and veggies: Hit “saute” button on Instant Pot and heat up olive oil. Add sausage and cook until meat crumbles and begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add base ingredients: Add broth, lentils, red pepper flakes, and tomatoes. Stir soup, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom. If you want extra spice, add a teaspoon of harissa and stir.

4. Cook soup: Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure the release valve is in the “sealing” position. Press “manual” button and set timer for 12 minutes. Turn off the “keep warm” button so it will naturally cool when it’s done. The Instant Pot will warm up for about 10 minutes and then start cooking. When the time is done, you can either quick-release by flipping the release valve to “venting” or let it naturally release for a while.

5. Finish and serve: Add kale and vinegar. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.