Spicy Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup

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This is a super easy and basic soup. This is what I make to use up whatever I have hanging around in the fridge that needs to be used up. For example:

Sausage: this can be replaced with any sausage that you like (chicken, turkey, beef, pork, tofu), or any other protein you may have lying around. You could used leftover chicken breast here as well.

Kale: easily substituted with spinach, collards, swiss chard, taro leaves… basically any type of green, just adjust cooking time accordingly (spinach cooks faster than kale, collards take a bit longer, etc).

Potatoes: this gives the soup some “body”, but can be replaced with sweet potatoes or white beans. You could also add in cooked quinoa, rice or farro at the end of cooking for an added starch.

Vegetarian-ize it: omit the sausage completely and use a vegetable stock.

See? Super flexible right? Think of this soup recipe as a loose blueprint – you can build the house however you like, including the spices and herbs you use. Sage, thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary… this soup is your oyster!

You’ll need kale, chicken stock, spicy sausage, potatoes, bay leaves, garlic, onion, and thyme.

Cut the sausage on the bias.

Brown over medium-high heat in a large pot until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic to the pot. While the onions are sweating, use a wooden spoon to scrape up all of that brown deliciousness stuck at the bottom of the pot.

Add the sausage back into the pot, along with the potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken stock.

Soooo, at this point I ate a bite of sausage and already knew it wasn’t going to be spicy enough to make the entire SOUP spicy, which was my goal, so I added some chili flake and a few grinds of this Smoked Ghost Chili Pepper from Trader Joes.
It’s an optional spicy step.
Cook the soup over medium heat and let simmer until potatoes are tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Once the potatoes are tender, I like to take the back side of a wooden spoon and smash some of them. This helps thicken the soup.

Add the kale and stir into the soup. Cook an additional 10 minutes, or until kale is cooked through.

ta-da!

Chocked full of veggie and sausage deliciousness!

Don’t you just wanna motorboat the whole pot?

Hearty and filling and even kinda healthy almost a little bit minus the sausage… kinda. lol

I happened to have some leftover homemade truffle ricotta cheese in the fridge. I thought… hmmm… maybe just a little spoonful.

yup.

Spicy Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup

makes 6 servings in ~60 minutes.

Ingredients

12 oz spicy sausage (I used Portuguese linguica – you can substitute your favorite turkey/chicken/pork/beef sausage)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 lbs baby potatoes, cut into 1″ chunks
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart water
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp chili flakes (optional)
1 lb kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large saucepan, sauté the sausage over medium heat until browned. Depending on the sausage used, there may be a lot of fat rendered – pour off all but 1 tbsp, then add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Add onions and garlic and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. While the onions are cooking, use a wooden spoon to scrape up the fond (the tasty brown bits) on the bottom of the pan.

Add the sausage back in to the pot, along with the potatoes, bay leaves, thyme (give the thyme a good rub between your fingers to help release the oils), chicken stock and water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the potatoes are very tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Optional step: Use the back of a wooden spoon to “smush” some of the potatoes. This will help give the soup a thicker consistency.

Add the kale and stir until it all wilts into the soup. Cover and  simmer for 10 minutes, until the kale is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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