I really love being able to look at a recipe and alter it as needed depending upon what ingredients I have in the kitchen. It helps to utilize what you have already instead of making a trip to the store. It's nice to be able to cook the same recipe with slight variations to make it something new. This is a great simple and versatile soup. I'm giving the original recipe plus alternative suggestions and notes on how I typically make this soup below.
White Bean, Kale & Sausage Soup
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4 cups kale, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained (I tend to use cannellini)
8oz of hot turkey sausage
8oz pork links sausage
8 cups chicken broth
Pepper to taste
Pepper to taste
Parmesan Rind
(Chicken broth not pictured. whoops!)
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Cook sausage in the oil, slice it and return to pan to brown. Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf, parmesan rind and season with pepper.
(Remove rind and bay leaf before serving.)
Stir in the kale, cover and simmer until the kale is wilted (8-10 minutes). Stir in the white beans and cool until heated through (about 5 minutes). Serve with grated parmesan.
Notes and Variations:
Does it make you nervous to alter recipes? Think you'll give this recipe a try?
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Cook sausage in the oil, slice it and return to pan to brown. Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook until translucent. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf, parmesan rind and season with pepper.
(Remove rind and bay leaf before serving.)
Stir in the kale, cover and simmer until the kale is wilted (8-10 minutes). Stir in the white beans and cool until heated through (about 5 minutes). Serve with grated parmesan.
Notes and Variations:
- I have never made with sliced sausage. I always use 16oz of either chicken sausage or italian sausage cut from the casings and browned, This time I used 16oz of pork sausage roll. I added onion, garlic and italian seasoning as I browned the meat.
- I had way less than 4 cups of Kale this time around. No big deal, still tasty. You can also sub the kale with spinach.
- I lowered the broth from 8 cups to 6 cups as I felt it was going to be a little too soupy with 8 cups. You can also switch to beef broth if preferred,
- No bay leaf, no problem, You can omit. I never use a parmesan rind. You can sprinkle soup with whatever parmesan cheese you have or omit.
Tatertots & Jello
