Kale, Sausage & Potato Soup – the last of our garden kale

     Barry picked the last of our kale crop before the BIG freeze, and in anticipation of the current cold spell, I made soup.

     This soup can be broth based or can be lightly thickened with prepared white sauce—which would be similar to adding a partial can of condensed soup to the base, only this is homemade. I often make extra white sauce and refrigerate it; as it cools, it thickens up and can easily be scooped out to use as a thickener.

Kale, Sausage & Potato Soup

½ to 1 lb. ground pork sausage

1 onion, diced

Kosher salt and pepper – from ¼ to ½ teaspoon of each

½ teaspoon paprika

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 small bunch of fresh thyme, tied in a bundle or about ½ to 1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 quart+ chicken broth

Kale, stemmed and finely chopped – about 1 cup in the finely chopped state (use more or less according to your preference)

1 to 2 Russet potatoes, peeled and diced

About ¼ cup of prepared white sauce to thicken if desired

1. Brown sausage in a soup pot, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Once it begins to brown, add the onions and cook until they begin to turn translucent.

   

   Sausage in browning in soup pot.

   

   Onions have been added.

2. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Add thyme.
3. Add a quart of chicken broth and the kale. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer; cover and cook until kale is mostly tender, about 30 minutes+.

   

   Broth and kale have been added. Notice the bundle of thyme that I've tied to the handle of the pot. 

4. Add potatoes; cover and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add more broth as needed during cooking time + taste and add additional seasonings as needed. Optional: At this point I added ¼ cup prepared white sauce to lightly thicken the soup. (See note in the introductory paragraph above.)

   

   Potatoes have been added.

5. Serve with oyster crackers, either plain or use our recipe for Seasoned Oyster Crackers.
   

Recipe without photos . . . 

Kale, Sausage & Potato Soup

½ to 1 lb. ground pork sausage

1 onion, diced

Kosher salt and pepper – from ¼ to ½ teaspoon of each

½ teaspoon paprika

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 small bunch of fresh thyme, tied in a bundle or about ½ to 1 teaspoon of dried thyme

1 quart+ chicken broth

Kale, stemmed and finely chopped – about 1 cup in the finely chopped state (use more or less according to your preference)

1 to 2 Russet potatoes, peeled and diced

About ¼ cup of prepared white sauce to thicken if desired

1. Brown sausage in a soup pot, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Once it begins to brown, add the onions and cook until they begin to turn translucent.
2. Season with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. Add thyme.
3. Add a quart of chicken broth and the kale. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer; cover and cook until kale is mostly tender, about 30 minutes+.
4. Add potatoes; cover and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add more broth as needed during cooking time + taste and add additional seasonings as needed. Optional: At this point I added ¼ cup prepared white sauce to lightly thicken the soup. (See note in the introductory paragraph above.)
5. Serve with oyster crackers, either plain or use our recipe for Seasoned Oyster Crackers.