November 11, 2010

My Favorite Sausage and Kale Soup

After many requests...I have finally added this oh so yummy soup to my blog.  Of all the soups I have tasted and posted on...this is my favorite.  I can't say for sure why it is....it's just that the combination of the sweet Italian sausage along with the kale (and lots of it) in this decadent velvety broth, just hits the spot all the time.  I could seriously eat this one every day.  You can pretty much always  find this either frozen in my freezer or ready to go in my fridge.  Lately, it seems that a week does not go buy that this soup is not being made in my kitchen.  In fact, it's almost automatic, my list would not be complete if this soup was not made.  On top of the already long list of soups and recipes that I want to create and share with you, which are many!

Seeing as I have made this very often, I  have played around with the ingredients...water versus broth, different flavored sausages (spicy versus not spicy),  milk versus cream....and this version is by far the best!  I mean really... what isn't good with cream added at the end?  

The key players in this soup is the sweet Italian sausage, lots of kale, onions, potatoes, and cream...just enough to add color and a slight viscosity...remember that is not a cream soup, it is more a brothy soup, but that slight added richness makes for a very inviting taste.

So enough talk...lets get started!

Pairing Suggestion:  I love Pinot Noir with this! 


My Favorite Sausage and Kale Soup
serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 tbsp light olive oil
3-4 Links or 1 1/2 pounds of Sweet Italian Sausage (I use chicken sausage quite a bit to cut down on the fat)
1 large or 2  medium potatoes, peeled and diced (you can add 2 cans white or cannellini beans instead)
1 large white or yellow onion chopped
3 garlic cloves (I love garlic, you can use less if you want)
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to your liking)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste 
1 tbsp freshly ground pepper 
2 quarts of chicken stock/broth
2 cups of water
2 bunches of kale, washed, and torn into bite size pieces (stem removed)
1/4 freshly grated nutmeg (I love this addition with any dark leafy green)
1/4 cup cream

Directions

Heat olive oil in soup pot with onions,  garlic and potatoes over medium heat.  Saute all until soft, but not mushy, about 10 minutes.  

Add sausage meat squeezed out of its casing.  Cook sausage meat with the vegetables for about 5 minutes till all the meat is crumbled and separated.  

Add the basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  Cook for another 7 minutes then add the broth and water.

Bring to a boil.  Once its at a rolling boil, add all the kale.  Cook for 10 minutes longer, then add your grated nutmeg and cream.  Check for seasoning here and add salt and pepper to your liking. 

Now it's time to enjoy.  Oh, and this soup gets better as it sits and melds together.  

Enjoy!!

4 comments:

♥peachkins♥ said...

WOW! This looks fantastic!


The Peach Kitchen
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Kendra said...

It is....you must try it!!!

Anonymous said...

Is it as good as your banana nut muffins?

Alex Staff said...

Yum-oh! I love both sausage and kale. This looks so delectable! What's best about this dish is that you don't have to be a culinary expert to cook it. I'm so excited to try making this dish.