I know, hiatus much? I have no excuse or apology, simply my presence now.
Winter is definitely here in a big way! Sure it's a couple months late, but now that it's here, man oh man, is it cold! I kind of love cold weather for a number of reasons. For one thing, you can always put more clothes on, but at some point it gets inappropriate to take any more off. On top of that, winter foods are fabulous! Throw in the best holidays the year has to offer, and we're looking at a great time. Speaking of holidays, I know everyone looks forward to the proverbial holiday spread, the rows and rows of pies, cakes, cookies, candies, casseroles, and meats upon meats upon meats. I love all of that, but I know my butt, legs, stomach, and clothing all wish that I was a little more restrained in my affection of all things edible. Alas, that's the problem with winter foods--how do you get warm, cozy, comforting food without sacrificing that extra dress size? Well, I have absolutely no suggestions regarding holiday foodwares. I think there's something to be said for appreciating those dishes that you only get once a year. But, I do have something that may help for the weeks in between get-togethers.
Clint and I love soups, but getting a soup that's filling enough to be a stand-alone meal, while maintaining the health benefits of traditional soups is a lot harder than it sounds. I mean, who doesn't love a good potato soup, but all that cheese and dairy piles on the calories and fat. Then there's french onion (one of my favorites),but I look at it as the Chinese food of soups, after an hour or so, I'm hungry again. We make stews and chili pretty frequently in the Winter months, but again, we've got to get something healthy, preferably something green, in our diet at some point. After much search, I found something I could finally get behind, and something I was pretty sure Clint would be open to as well--Zuppa Toscana or sausage and kale soup.
Now I'm not going to even try to pretend that this is a traditional, family recipe. We're not Italian in any discernible traditions or cooking styles. But, after making this, it feels like a traditional comfort food in our house, even though this is the first time I've ever attempted it. That may be the thing that I love more than anything else, the inherent comfort of this dish. It's clear that this soup has graced the tables and stovetops of hundreds of thousands of families, bringing smiles and warmth and love to so many people. And now, it gets to do the same for our little family as well!
I decided I wanted to try my hand at the zuppa when I came into some excellent jalapeno sausage (thanks mom and dad!). The sausage is great straight off the grill or on a sandwich with sauerkraut and mustard, but I wanted something a little less heavy. After perusing various food cites for hours, I kept wandering back to various versions of sausage and kale soup. Some were Portuguese in origin, others Italian, all looked incredibly warm, tasty, and surprisingly light. Since we had no major plans for the day, I decided it was a perfect day for soup.
I have to say, the verdict is in, and I think this may be the best soup I've made. It is delicious! If you're a fan of the version at the well known Italian chain, skip the $40 check and make a massive bowl of this for less than $20. It tastes better too! I created my recipe by merging a number of techniques that seemed consistent throughout all recipes.
Zuppa Toscana
The Ingredients
2 bunches of fresh kale (I used curly because that's what Brookshire's had), washed, dried, stemmed, and chopped
1 white onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup baby carrots (halved)
2 large potatoes (Yukon gold or California White--I used the latter)
1 pound good sausage (I removed the jalapeno sausage from the casing, but you can use loose sausage to skip the step)
1 large vegetable boillion cube
1 box chicken stock
4 cups water
1/2 cup white wine
2 TBSP vegetable oil
2 TBSP flour
8 oz. cream
salt
black ground pepper
red pepper flakes
parsley
basil
rosemary
The Equipment
1 deep, heavy bottomed pot (I use my enameled dutch oven--the best!)
wooden spoon
cutting board/ chef's knife
The Process
1. Add vegetable oil to pot and put on med-high he
2. If still in casing, remove casing from sausage by running knife vertically down sausage, splitting casing then pulling off.
3. Crumble sausage into hot oil and stir with wooden spoon.
4.Begin browning sausage as you chop the onion and 2 garlic cloves
5. As sausage cooks, add onion and garlic (keep 2 cloves whole and add to the soup as well)
6. Add a splash of white wine and about 1 tsp kosher salt
6. Slice potatoes in 1/4 inch rounds, add to the mix once most of the white wine has cooked out
7. Sprinkle 2 TBSP flour over the vegetables and sausage, stirring with wooden spoon until flour has incorporated
8. Add carrots (halved) and chopped, de-ribbed kale
9. Chop vegetable bouillon cube and add to pot
10. Add box of chicken stock (28 oz), 4 C water (or enough to mostly cover veggies, and rest of white wine.
11. Season with about 2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 TBSP parsley, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp rosemary.
12. Add cream to pot then slowly bring soup up to boil.
13. Cover soup and reduce heat to simmer.
14. Cook for approximately 30 minutes (length doesn't really matter once everything incorporates).
This soup actually comes together very quickly. It's a pretty simple toss together as long as you prep along the way. Clint used our bread machine to make some dill bread, which I have to say was a perfect accompaniment. The soup also re-heats really, really well, so make plenty for leftovers. The recipe, as it stands, can easily serve 6 (or 2 for several meals!) Bon appetito!
