Chicken Italian Sausage
1 lb ground chicken breast
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp basil
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Vegetable Base
3 large carrots, washed and roughly chopped
1 large fennel bulb, quartered
1 large yellow onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons harissa paste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 lemon, zest & juice
12 cups water
2 tbsp Chicken Broth base
1 1/2 cup green lentils
1 large bunch kale
1 cup shredded Parmesan and Parmesan rind
2 dried bay leaves
Homemade Croutons
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups 1/2-inch cubed bread
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Add the carrots, fennel bulb, onion and garlic cloves into a food processor. Pulse until very, very finely chopped.
Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add in the ground chicken and spices with a little olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat. Transfer the meat out of the dutch oven to a plate and set aside. Leave any leftover grease and bits in the pot.
Add about 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pot, then stir in the finely chopped vegetables mixture. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, then partially cover and reduce to medium-low for an additional 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. The vegetables shouldn’t brown, so turn down the heat if needed. Stir in harissa, tomato paste, cumin and zest. Continue cooking to about 1 minute.
Wash the kale well. Tear the kale into small bite sized pieces and discard of the stem.
Stir in 12 cups of water, 2 tbsp chicken stock base, green lentils and chopped kale. Cut the rind off of the Parmesan and add it to the soup. Also add 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes until the lentils have cooked through.
While the soup is cooking, make the garlic crunchies. Chop the bread into bite sized pieces, spread on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle and garlic powder and bake until crispy. It took about 10 minutes on 350oF.
Once the soup has completed its 45 minute simmer, add in the cooked chicken mixture and juice of 1 lemon. Remove the rind and bay leaves.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with crunchies and shredded Parmesan.