Kale, sausage, and potato soup (forager's minestrone soup)

Sorry for the absence! I came down with a late summer cold, which was the worst. I mean, I'm given to frequent fits of hyperbole, but seriously. Being sick when it's sunny and 90F outside and all you want to do is lie huddled under blankets in a darkened room is just . . . the pits. I'm coming back to the blog now, with a restorative soup, meant to warm you up with its slightly spicy, earthy goodness.

The season for soups and stews is almost upon us and I have the perfect soup for you to try out. This recipe came out of a desire to make a hearty lunch without having to go to the grocery store first.

All of my photos of this soup were kinda blurry and awful, which is such a disservice to this tasty soup!

This is a pretty quick soup, as soups go. If you skip the potatoes (which, why would you?) then it's even quicker. I've used both kidney beans and white beans to make this recipe and I really just like the meatiness of the kidneys. It adds to the stick-to-your-ribs-ness of the this meal.

Since it comes together so fast, I don't have any real process photos. I used this sausage to make the soup, but chorizo or any other sausage that you like can be used. If you can't find sausage that isn't in a casing, never fear! You can most definitely take the sausage of the casing to use for this recipe. Alternatively, you could chop the sausages into slices if you the soup to have bigger pieces of meat.

After prepping the vegetables, this really only takes 20-30 minutes to get together. If you chop the potatoes up into smaller pieces, they'll cook pretty quickly. When you're done, you have a delicious, almost-minestrone kind of soup. I imagine the longer you let it cook the more flavorful it'll be. The only danger in that is having to replenish the broth  in the soup if the liquid cooks down too much. Try this one out, y'all. It's colorful and comforting--a perfect soup for the upcoming autumn!

Forager's minestrone soup
(serves 4)

Thoroughly rinse four red potatoes, 1 onion, and 1 large bunch of kale (about 1 pound?). Dice the potatoes and onions into small pieces (the onions into much smaller pieces than the potatoes). Tear the kale leaves away from the stems and discard the stems. On the stove, place a large pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 pound spicy Italian sausage* (without casings) to the pot and let the sausage brown. Stir not infrequently to keep the sausage from burning.

While the sausage cooks, rinse and drain 1 (15-16oz) can of kidney beans and mince 6 cloves garlic. When the sausage is cooked most of the way through, add onions and garlic, cooking for another 5-6 minutes, until the onions are starting to become translucent. Add potatoes and beans (and 2 tsp crushed red pepper, if you want it spicy) to the pot, stirring to incorporate. Pour in 1/2 cup red wine (I used some old Cab) and let the wine come to a boil. Then, pour in 1 (15-16oz) can of chicken broth, 1 (15-16oz) can of diced tomatoes (use crushed and add a few tablespoons of tomato paste if you want a more tomatoey broth), and 5 cups water. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste here.

Bring the stovetop heat up to high and let the soup come to a boil. When the soup starts boiling, add in the kale. Let the soup come back up to a boil and add 4-6 oz dry pasta (I used orzo, but any other small pasta shape would probably work too). Cook soup until the pasta is al dente (or softer, if you're a weirdo ^__^).

Serve immediately. Buttered bread or crackers are a good accompaniment to this soup.

*If you use plain ground meat instead of sausage, I would also add 1 tsp crushed red pepper, 2 tsp fennel seeds, and 1 tbsp dried herbs (like a combination of marjoram, oregano, basil, sage, thyme).


Ingredient list
1 pound uncooked Italian sausage or chorizo (w/o casing, if possible)
1 large bunch of kale
1 onion
4 red potatoes
1 large onion
6 cloves garlic
15 oz kidney beans (cooked or canned)
15 oz chicken broth
red wine (which is probably optional--just substitute for more chicken broth)
15 oz diced tomatoes
4-6 oz dry pasta (small shapes--orzo, stelline, anelli, cavatappi, orecchiette, etc.)
crushed red pepper