Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup

Soup Saturday was back with a vengeance at the weekend. I actually had a few sausages leftover (uncooked) so I started with them. Thinking vaguely Italian.. I added a few other ingredients. Kale is becoming so popular now that I think I might have a go at growing some this year. Partially as I love it, but it also contains a plethora of vitamins and dietary minerals. So you can feel good about yourself!

Its still quite cold in April, so a good, chunky soup is a must. This one is lovely. Cannellini beans are best for this. I used black eye beans as they were all I had in the cupboard! They worked well but cannellini would be better.

Ingredients:

3 pork sausages, skin removed
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large potato, peeled and chopped 1cm pieces
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. oregano
1.2 litres  chicken stock (cube is fine) 
400g tin white beans
100g kale, shredded

Method

In a large pan, add the oil and the onions and cook on a medium heat. As they are cooking, crumble in the sausage meat and cook until the sausage is no longer pink. Add the carrots, potatoes and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add the flour, with some salt, pepper and the oregano. Stir and let cook for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour.

Then add a little of the stock. Incorporate and then add the rest of the stock. Turn up the heat to boil and then leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add the beans and kale and cook for a further 3 minutes. Taste to check for seasoning and add black pepper and salt as you like it.

Serve (if liked) with cheesy croutons on top. Delicious!