Sausage, kale, and potato soup

[Bon Bon]

This recipe is SO GOOD and a great way to get all those servings of vegetables you're supposed to get in a day. You can add almost anything to this soup - garbanzo beans, carrots, squash, other leafy greens, BACON, whatever you like. I adapted it from these two recipes and the memory of the one my mom used to make back in the day.

You can eat all of it in one sitting, if you want, but I find the best is to measure out servings into quart-sized freezer bags and freeze it for when you're in a hurry and need a quick microwave dinner.

If you have any questions about this recipe or cooking in general, I'm no expert, but feel free to message me!


Mom's Weird Soup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 lb pre-cooked sausage of your choice, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 medium onion, chopped (I use 1/2 since I don't like onion too much)
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
Salt
2 pounds potatoes, diced (about 5-6 medium)
1 bay leaf
1 bunch fresh parsley
1 teaspoon thyme
1 Parmesan rind or 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (Optional, but sooo good. If you don't use this you might want to add some chicken broth for flavor.)
1 pound kale, stemmed and washed thoroughly
Freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot, and add the onion and sausage. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the herbs, the Parmesan rind or nutritional yeast, and two quarts of water. Bring to a boil, add salt, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and Parmesan rind.

2. While the soup is simmering, prepare the kale. Stack the leaves, about six or eight to a stack, roll them up tightly and slice crosswise into very thin filaments.

3. Add the potatoes and kale and stir. Simmer 10 to 15 minutes, uncovered. The kale should be tender but should not become a drab olive green, if possible, and the potatoes should be cooked but not mushy. Taste, adjust salt and add pepper, and enjoy.



EDIT: This is the version I made with a bunch of extra ingredients - you can see beans and carrots and bell peppers in there. Click for bigger.

[DarthAvarous]

With some lean sausage this sounds delicious. Reminds me of zuppa toscana. My only recommendation is to remove the ribs from the kale. They tend to be tough and chewy.

[Bon Bon]

Nov 10, 2012 22:27:19 GMT -5 DarthAvarous said:

With some lean sausage this sounds delicious. Reminds me of zuppa toscana. My only recommendation is to remove the ribs from the kale. They tend to be tough and chewy.

Yes, do that! The recipe doesn't make it clear.