Community Pick
Mediterranean Kale & White Bean Soup With Sausage
"Pulled from Fine Cooking Magazine (Feb/Mar. 2008)--my current FAVORITE cooking magazine. I made it last night for the family, and WHOA, is it good! Granted I am blessed with two little boys and a husband who love nearly all food, but they all liked this one A LOT! It isn't overly brothy--consider adding a couple more cups of broth if you like it more "wet."
It's garlicky, fairly simple, and very nutritious! The magazine says it's best served with crusty cheese toasts. I did just that, and served it with (Safeway brand) frozen five-cheese toast. YUM!"
photo by A Marsteller
- Ready In:
- 55mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Yields:
-
10 cups
- Serves:
- 6-8
ingredients
- 1⁄2 lb mild Italian sausage, ground
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1⁄2 medium yellow onion, cut into small dice (about 2/3 to 3/4 c.)
- 1 medium carrot, cut into small dice
- 1 celery rib, cut into small dice
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced (about 2 tbls. Don't try to fake it with the jarred stuff!)
- 1⁄8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 48 ounces organic low sodium chicken broth (6 c.)
- 2 cups cannellini beans (takes 1 1/2 of the standard size cans)
- 1 lb kale, rinsed, stems removed, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces (8 c. firmly packed)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1⁄2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
directions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 4 or 5-quart heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, working to break into bite sized pieces, until lightly browned, about five minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate, leaving any rendered fat in the pot.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pot, increase the heat to medium-high, and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and beginning to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Add the carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to soften and brown, about 2 minutes more. Be sure to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in the garlic, pepper flakes, salt & black pepper and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute more. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
- When the broth reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium, add the sausage along with any collected juices, and HALF of the beans.
- Mash the remaining cup of beans with a fork or wooden spoon and add them to the pot, stirring to distribute.
- Stir in the kale, adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, and simmer until the kale is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. (I cover the pot loosely during this step to prevent too much reduction in the broth.).
- Stir in the lemon juice and zest just before serving.
- (It's even better the next day!).
Questions & Replies
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can I format for printing without all the other stuff on the page>?
Reviews
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Fine Cooking is also my favorite food magazine and I've been making this recipe for several years. I use half again as much onion, carrot and celery and 12 oz hot Italian turkey sausage. I use 2 (14.5 oz) can beans and put one in the mini food processor with about 1/4 cup of the chicken broth, of which I use 7 to 8 cups. I find that 8 to 12 oz of kale is enough. We grow kale in our garden and I make this often and give some to a friend who is partially disabled and she just loves it. It also freezes well. -
A hearty, flavorful and comforting anytime soup, everything you want in one bowl! -
This is a great soup! I've made it a few times now and keep trying to add a little more flavor and substance. Here's my changes and both my husband and I think this the best version. Instead of six cups of chicken broth, use 8 cups. One bunch of kale instead of one pound. Add 1/2 teaspoon of oregano when the chicken broth is added. Add 1 cup of dry tortellini and simmer and additional 30 minutes. Top with grated parmesan cheese. Yummy! -
This was a really enjoyable soup. It has become a "keeper". I agree other posters that an extra squeeze of lemon balances it out. For me, I preferred more beans so I muddled about half a cup to give a little more meaty flavor. I didn't want to over do it. -
We love this recipe! I will be making it again very soon! Thanks for sharing
see 25 more reviews
Tweaks
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Wanted a stew rather than a soup. Used hot Italian sausage, ~4 cups veg. broth because I didn't have any chicken, giant lima beans because I didn't have any cannellini, a serano pepper because I had one, all the lacinato kale I had (probably 4 cups), some ground fennel and a bay leaf. I mashed half the limas and added to the pot and let it simmer for a while to thicken. Then added the sausage and kale. When kale was tender, threw in a few big handfuls of spinach. Served with parm cheese and ciabatta bread. DELICIOUS! -
This was a great soup--I left out the celery (didn't have any) and used 1 1/2 lbs of sausage formed into little meat balls. (We will use the extra sausage next time too, but the more flavorful the sausage the better--ours seemed a little bland.) I couldn't find kale at the store and so used spinach instead. This soup definitely needs the entire pound of spinach--and might be able to use a bit extra. (The spinach might cook up more than the kale?) Thank you for a keeper! -
This is an outstanding soup for a cold winter evening. I made this using hot Italian sausage and 2 cans of cannellini beans. I substituted fresh collard greens for the kale. Served this with french bread for a hearty and warming dinner. -
I have made this soup 4 or 5 times. I made the following changes to suit my tastes. I used 64 oz. broth and 19 oz. cans of beans (drained). Mashed one can of beans. I don't eat pork, so I used 3 links of chicken sausage (removed from casing). I used a dash of cayenne instead of pepper flakes. And, I found the plastic bag of cut kale easier (and less messy) to use. Great soup for cold winter days.
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I was looking for a white bean soup similar to the beans n' greens soup my guy's Italian mother makes, except with sausage rather than ham. This is a yummy soup. I made some changes to the recipe- I added a bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme, and used fresh spinach instead of the kale. If you do this, the spinach cooks much quicker than the kale- maybe 5-10 minutes depending on how done you like it. I also nixed the lemon zest and juice; we sprinkled a little red wine vinegar instead on our individual servings. Delish. Thanks for sharing!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
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<br>I'm a native Idahoan, but spent seven years in Kansas City before moving to Seattle five years ago. I work for a large international nonprofit in fundraising, but my true passion is cooking and baking.
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<br>My dream in life would be to open my own delicatessen--I do not believe a sandwich to my standards can be found in Seattle. There are some good ones, but not the best.
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<br>I am married to my best friend, Sean, who also acts as my personal sous chef in our kitchen. We have two cats, Jackson and T-Bone, and love to garden and play outside. We also love to trapse downtown to Pike Place Market and gather ingredients for a delicious meal. You can find anything there, but we especially love the fresh fish selection, of course the produce, the bread from Three Girl's Bakery, the sausages from Uli's, the cheeses from DiLaurenti's, and the hot donuts across the hall. YUM!
