Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup

It's beautiful and sunny outside as I put this post together, but Friday night after I got home from work, it felt like it was never going to stop raining, and for me, a rainy day means soup time. Soup has always been a comfort food for me, probably since my mom practically raised us on soup (refrigerator soup was all but food group).

This is a recipe I make at home every time we are craving a slightly spicy, hearty soup and it only gets better the next day as the flavors blend together, so I make a big pot, and we eat it for days!

  

Ingredients:

1 lb spicy pork sausage (I used loose, but you can remove the casings of links if that's all you can find)

1 large (Vidalia) onion, medium dice

2-3 medium white potatoes, 1/2" dice

2-3 cloves garlic, minced or microplaned

1 dry bay leaf

2 quarts chicken stock or broth (or a combination of both)

1 big bunch kale

1 can Great Northern white beans

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

pinch of red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy bottomed pot, over medium high heat, render the pork sausage until brown and cooked through, there should be enough fat in the sausage that you dont need to add any extra to do this.

Stir in onions and bay leaf and cook until translucent and lightly browned. Add the potatoes to the pot and stir to coat. Add in garlic and stir quickly to cook for about 10 seconds, being careful not to burn it. At this point stir in someof the broth/stock and deglaze the bottom of the pot, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the yummy brown bits. Add the rest of the liquid and bring to a simmer.

          

         



Meanwhile, wash yor kale leaves and remove the stems. The easiest way to do this is to fold the leaves in half lengthwise down the stem and just tear the leaf portion away from the stem. Then run your knife through the kale to chop roughly into approx. 2" pieces and set aside.

Drain and rinse the beans and set aside.

  

Once soup has reached a simmer, cover and cook about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through. At this point add your beans, kale, turmeric, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Return to simmer and cook until greens are soft and bright green. At this point you may serve or allow to simmer as long as you would like, it only gets better with time!