Garden's Last Hurrah Soup

By this time of year, if your garden is like mine, you've already ripped out the last vestiges of any edible plants. Before putting the garden to rest for the winter however, I harvested the remaining kale and put it to good use in this soup, especially welcome now that cold weather is upon us. It's got everything you need for supper in one bowl - protein (sausage and white beans); vegetables (kale and tomatoes) and carbohydrates (potatoes). I cooked it all in this brand new Le Creuset pot (more about that at the end.)

 The kale I grow is lacinato kale, sometimes called dinosaur kale or cavolo nero in Italian, where it's commonly used in ribollita. But you can use any kind of kale you've got, or use Swiss chard or spinach, for that matter. It all depends on your taste and what's available to you. 

It's ready to eat after about 45 minutes of cooking on the stove. Add a couple of slices of bread and sit down to a satisfying, filling and nutritious meal. 

Now about that Le Creuset pot. Mine was discolored and more than 40 years old. After reading on Adri Barr Crocetti's blog about how the company replaced her old, stained pot with a new one, I thought I'd contact them too. I did, and they replaced mine with the beauty you see above. (Merry Christmas!) They aren't kidding when they say their product has a "lifetime limited warranty." If you've got a discolored, but otherwise non-chipped or damaged Le Creuset pot and want to contact them, call the company's toll-free number at 1-877-418-5547 or email them at Consumer-Services@LeCreuset.com.

Sausage, Bean, Kale and Potato Soup

printable recipe here

2 Italian sausage links (about 1/2 pound)

1/2 cup red onion, minced

2 T. olive oil

3 stalks celery, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry white wine

1 parmesan cheese rind

1 cup sliced small potatoes (like fingerling potatoes)

1 15 oz. can small white beans, rinsed (about 2 cups)

1 bunch of lacinato kale (about four cups chopped)

1 cup diced tomatoes

red pepper flakes, to taste

3 or 4 sprigs fresh oregano (or 1 t. dried oregano)

salt, pepper

optional - another cup of water

Sauté the sausage links in a pan smeared with a small bit of olive oil and cook through. Remove the sausage from the pot, add the 2 T. olive oil, the onion, celery and garlic and cook until softened. Slice the sausage and put it back in the pot, adding the wine. Bring to a boil and add the chicken broth and the rest of the ingredients. Let everything come to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. Add another cup of water if the soup is too dense for you, or if you want to stretch it a bit. Remove the parmesan rind before serving.