Italian Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup - YUM!

October 24, 2012

Here's another recipe I threw together, all mine but inspired by a certain national chain Italian restaurant's soup. Tried to keep it healthy, fast and appealing to two kids.

Italian Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup

(I planned to make this soup a day ahead – those of you as my patients looking for nutrition advice usually hear how important meal planning is from me! Assembling a meal is easy when all your ingredients are there and you have a plan. The kale and celery were in this week's Bountiful Basket.)

So, to do it right, bake some potatoes (3 for this soup, and a few to chop and sauté for some breakfast hashbrowns on the weekend and/or some for another meal this week – handy topped w/ chili!).

My favorite method for easy, perfect baked potatoes: 

• scrub several medium to large nice looking potatoes
• wrap in aluminum foil
• toss in crock pot on low for about 8 hours (eh, maybe 6ish, maybe longer if you end up working late)
• ENJOY

Okay, back to the soup. Here's the ingredients:

• 3 T. butter (use olive oil, if you prefer)
• 1 onion, chopped
• about 3 good-sized carrots, diced
• about 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth or stock (I can't really tell the difference personally.)
• 3 baked potatoes, peeled (unless you can get your kids to eat peel)
• 1 pound Italian chicken sausage (I use mild for my kids.)
• 1 bunch kale (Tuscan or regular), washed and chopped, with tough stems pulled out
• 1/2 cup half and half, more if you like
• salt, black pepper and crushed red chiles, to taste.

If you have your potatoes baked already, this takes about 45 minutes start to finish. (This includes the allowance for at least 1 dozen "mommy distractions," including homework emergencies, laundry and whatever else comes up.)

Use a medium stockpot and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and saute 3-5 minutes (but don't brown them!). Meanwhile, cook the sausage in another skillet - remove the casing, crumble and brown over medium heat. Back to your stockpot with the onions and butter: add the carrots and celery and a good sprinkle of salt and cook another 3-5 minutes, until tender. Add about 2 cups of the chicken broth and 2 of the potatoes somewhat chunked up, maybe a little more salt. Now, here's the fun part - get your boat motor (that's immersion blender to the culinary types) and pulse the veggies and broth in the stockpot. You can vary the amount of blend. The mushed baked potatoes will thicken this soup, contributing to its filling quality and will make it a bit creamy while using less cream. 

Okay, the work is done! Throw in the cooked sausage, the chopped kale and the remaining baked potato which should be chopped into small bite-size chunks. Let it cook until the kale is to your desired doneness (maybe a half hour or so). Season with salt and pepper, if your kids will let you. Just before serving, all the half and half and adjust seasonings. The crushed chiles really add great flavor - you may need to add these to your bowl individually. 

Serve with some bread and a salad for a meal. Makes 4-6 servings