Sausage, White Bean & Kale Soup

White Bean Soup with Kale is one of those classic recipes that is always warm and hearty, and terrific for a cold winter day. Adding some sausage just takes it up a notch. The veggies that I’ve mentioned here are only a guideline- feel free to add whatever you have hanging out in fridge. A great, and greatly underused, tip for soup is to save your old Parmesan cheese rinds in a baggie in the freezer & drop one in your soup while it’s cooking. It creates an amazing nutty depth, but don’t forget to remove it before you dish up. You can also make this a vegetarian soup by simply swapping out the chicken stock for veggie and removing the sausage all together.

You can soak your beans overnight but I like to throw them in dried and let them soften while bubbling on the stove. This way, as they soften they soak up much more flavour than they would while soaking in water, but you may need to add additional water or stock once the beans start sucking up the liquids. In a large pot, add your stock, beans, garlic and bay leaves and boil gently for 1 hour. Brown off sausage links in a separate pan until they have a nice crust. Remove sausage and deglaze the pan with a scoop of the soup stock and add that to the soup. Slice the sausage into bite sized coins and add all remaining ingredients, including sausage, to the stock. Continue simmering on medium until vegetables and beans are cooked through. Remove Parmesan rind and bay leaf and serve with warm crusty bread.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 2 to 3 hours

Total time: 2-3 hours and 10 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings