Effort Level: Low
Servings: 6
If you know me, you know work lunch is all about soups! This week I wanted to focus on eating something with deep leafy vegetables like kale and up my protein intake with beef. At the same time, if you are eating something 5 days in a row you have to have something a bit sinful like pasta and cheese to keep me still eating it. So I came up with a recipe and gave it a whirl, it turned out really well!
We have storms rolling through Chicagoland on Memorial Day weekend, so strangely it's the perfect weather to curl up with a hot bowl of soup!
If you want to jump straight to the recipe, no need to keep scrolling it's right below. If you want step-by-step pictures though, I've included those below the recipe. And as my Chef husband says, "Food is love". Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1lb 85% or 90% lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped small
- 1 zucchini, quartered
- 1 bunch of kale, leave ripped into smaller bits from stem (dispose of stems)
- 1/4 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup dry uncooked tricolor rotini pasta
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 8oz fresh mozzarella ball, shredded
- 33.5 oz Box of Hunts Tomato sauce (4 cups)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
- 1/8 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Chop onions, garlic, and zucchini. Rip bits of kale from stems, dispose of stems.
- Turn your IP to high saute for 13 minutes (you likely won't use all this time, but I do this so I know it won't ever turn off early and waste time with reheating).
- Add oil, onions, garlic, and ground beef to pot. Break ground beef into chunks, cook until beef is browned and onions are translucent. You shouldn't need to drain fat as long as you get at least 85% lean (ideally 90% lean).
- Turn off saute and add in this order- chopped zucchini, water, pasta, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, creole, garlic salt, regular salt, dried basil, chili flakes, and then kale bits. DO NOT MIX and DO NOT CHANGE ORDER. This is to prevent the burn notice from the red sauce, to make sure the pasta is covered to not dry out, and also keep the kale from overcooking. Don't add any cheeses yet.
- Seal and set to high pressure for 10 minutes, be sure steam vent is in the sealed position. Allow 20 minutes to reach pressure.
- While soup is cooking, shred mozzarella.
- Once your IP beeps, quick release pressure.
- Add shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan. Stir and enjoy!
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| Dice onions, fine chop garlic, quarter zucchini, and rip kale into small bite sized parts ripping from stems (discard stems). |
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| Turn on high saute and add oil, onion, garlic, and ground beef. Break beef into small chunks with spatula. Cook until ground beef is browned and onions are translucent. |
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| Turn off saute. Add 1 quartered zucchini. |
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| Add remaining in this order: 3 cups water, 4 cups tomato sauce, and all seasoning. |
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| Lastly, top with ripped up kale. DO NOT STIR, you want the tomato sauce undisturbed and the kale sitting on top. Seal and set to 10 minutes high pressure, allow for 20 minutes to build pressure. Be sure steam vent is sealed. While soup is cooking, shred mozzarella. |
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| Once it beeps done, quick release pressure. Your Kale will look cooked through like this. |
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| Add 1/2 8 oz mozzarella block (shredded) and 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese. Stir and serve. |
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| Enjoy! |