Pork and Green Lentil Soup

I want to share this recipe for a soup I started making a couple of years ago. It's a great soup for beginners, there aren't many ingredients and it doesn't take long to make. It's great for cold weather- particularly due to the hot sauce used- but I just recently made a batch in mid-July; this is something I eat year-round. This recipe makes a LOT of soup, so if you don't like leftovers, I'd suggest dividing it in half.
What you'll need:
1 LB of ground Italian pork sausage
1 large carrot chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
half of a yellow onion chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp hot sauce (I use Sriracha Chili Sauce)
1 16 oz bag (1 LB) dried green lentils
8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock/broth
2 cups of water
Directions:
1. In a large stock pot, cook the ground pork until just browned all over on medium-low heat
2. Drain the pork in a colander, set aside
3. Using the same stock pot, cook the carrots, celery, and onion (add salt & pepper) for 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally, then add the garlic, stirring and cooking again for another 2-3 minutes. (note: You may want to cook the vegetables a bit longer, depending on how soft/firm you prefer them)
4. Add the ground pork back into the stock pot with the vegetables
5. Add the tomato paste and mix into the veggie/pork mixture
6. Add the chicken stock and hot sauce, stir and let soup simmer until heated through
7. In the meantime, place the lentils in a colander and give them a good rinse
8. Add the lentils to the soup, and add the 2 cups of water, stir soup
9. Keeping the heat on medium-low, place the lid partially on the stock pot so that some steam can escape.
10. Depending on the brand of lentils you use, you will need to cook them in the soup for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. I like to cook them for about 30-40 minutes until the lentils are a bit tender, but this is all dependent upon what you prefer.
11. Once the soup is finished, ladle into a bowl & top with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Enjoy!
As mentioned above, this recipe makes a lot of soup, which is great for when you're entertaining a large group. You can also freeze soup, and it will last 2-3 months in freezable containers.