Rainy days and soup. IMHO, that’s comfort food at its best.
Kale? I always thought Kale was inedible and even rarely used as a garnish. However, I remember my first experience eating Zuppa Toscana Soup at Olive Garden. All of my previous thoughts about Kale went away. That soup was amazing. And served with their garlic sticks? ~oh my~
Yesterday we had some pretty torrential storms and there are more in our forecast for today. So I thought I would make this soup with garlic crostini’s.
I hope you love it!
Ingredients
2 bunches fresh kale, torn into bite size pieces
2 pounds Italian sausage
3 pounds red potatoes, sliced thin
1 yellow onion, fine dice
3 cups chicken broth (I prefer low sodium so I can control the amount of salt)
2 cups whole milk
4 cups half-and-half
1/4 cup heavy cream
Sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh oregano (removed from stems)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) If you use a sweet Italian sausage, you may wish to add these. I use a hot Italian sausage so this isn’t needed.
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions
Tear the Kale in to bite size pieces and set aside.
Fill a pot with water, liberal amount of coarse kosher salt and sprigs of thyme. Boil the sliced red potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In your favorite soup pot, remove the Italian sausage from the casing, break apart and brown. If you find there is an excessive amount of fat, drain it off before adding the onion. Now add the onion and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the red pepper flakes (optional), oregano, chicken broth, whole milk and half-and-half. Simmer, on low to medium, for 30 to 40 minutes.
(Note – while the soup is simmering, you can prepare your crostini’s)
Add sliced red potatoes, heavy cream and kale. Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
