This Tuscan kale soup with fennels sausage and potatoes is a hearty and wholesome bowl of flavorful ingredients that will have you coming back for seconds.
A recent chance encounter with a neighborhood grocer I don't usually frequent resulted in a windfall of beautiful spring produce finds.
I found fresh rainbow Swiss chard and used it to make Rainbow Chard Mediterranean Tuna Salad Wraps, plums that went into Tomato Burrata Salad with Orange and Balsamic Roast Plum, sweet fresh fava beans that I used to make Fresh Fava Beans in Tomato Sauce with Dill and Garlic, and finally these gorgeous Tuscan kale leaves that went into this soup.
It's amazing how such simple ingredients can come together to make such a rich and deeply complex soup.
While not a traditional Italian recipe, this soup is inspired by the traditional flavors and ingredients of Tuscany: Tuscan kale, fennel seeds, and pork.
The flavors are perfection together. It smells so good while it's cooking. I couldn't wait to dig in.
Ingredients
Ground pork: The fennel sausage in this recipe is just made right in the pan. if you can find premade fennel sausage in your supermarket feel free to use that instead, either sliced or squeezed out of the casing.
Potatoes: I left the potatoes unpeeled for a bit of extra fiber and vitamins but you can also peel the potatoes if that's your preference.
Tuscan kale a.k.a. Lacinato kale: Tuscan kale is longer, thinner and darker than conventional kale. It's a perfect shape for roasting and makes beautiful crisp kale chips. You can also substitute regular kale and use the same preparation method as described here, just be sure the stalk is still diced as finely as shown in the photos.
Aromatics (shallots and garlic): Shallot and garlic make up the flavor base notes. You can also substitute yellow or red onion for the shallot if that's all you have.
Seasoning (fennel seeds, dried oregano, dried basil, black pepper, salt): The fennel seeds are incomparable and do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of flavor development. They bring that strong Italian sausage flavor and are complemented nicely by dried oregano, basil and black pepper (ideally fresh cracked). Salt brings it all together.
Olive oil: The olive oil is for browning the pork, aromatics and kale stalk.
Flour: Flour acts as a thickener in this soup. If you want to make it gluten free, you can substitute cornstarch. Alternatively, you can get a really nice creamy consistency without any additional starch by removing a bit of the potatoes and broth, and blending it up to a fine puree. Then put it back in the soup and it will add that nice creamy base.
Equipment
A large pot with a lid is all you need. I used my Le Creuset braiser which is pictured and is 3.3 liter / 3.5 quart. You will need a pot at least that large.
Instructions
The kale is the star of this soup so it gets extra careful care. We're going to do 3 different things to the kale to help it shine.
The stalk gets finely diced and goes into the soup, and the leaves are divided into two piles. Half will be roasted to make a crispy kale garnish, and other half is rough chopped and put into the soup right before it's done.
Prepare the soup
Start by thoroughly washing the kale, making sure to rub the grooves with your fingers to get any residual grit or soil out.
Cut the stalks out of the kale leaves and dice them finely as shown in the ingredients photos above.
Cut the potatoes into cubes. I like to vary the size of the cubes making some smaller and some bigger. this gives a more varied texture to the soup. the smaller pieces can also disintegrate and add to the body and creamy base of the soup.
Heat the remaining oil in your pot and put in the ground pork along with half the seasoning and salt. Sauté until the pork is beginning to brown, breaking it up constantly with a wooden spoon.
Sprinkle in the flour and rest of the seasoning, and mix to incorporate. Then add the kale stalk, diced shallot and garlic. Sauté again until the shallot begins to brown.
Put the cubed potatoes in the pot. Add water and the rest of the seasoning. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Prepare the kale
While the soup is simmering you can prepare the kale leaves. Divide the leaves into two piles.
For the roasted kale, you'll need to thoroughly dry the leaves. You can do this by patting them dry with paper towel or kitchen towel or use a salad spinner.
Roasting the kale has two benefits: you get a crunchy topping that adds a nice textural element and (more importantly) roasting with dry heat brings out other flavor compounds that add depth and complexity to the soup. So even if the crunchy bits get mixed in and soften, they still add a lot of nice flavor.
To roast the kale, put the dried leaves on a baking sheet (I used a parchment lined metal baking sheet) and rub them with a tablespoon of oil. It seems like a tablespoon isn't enough, but it is if you're thorough (but gentle not to break the leaves). You can also use more oil if you prefer.
Once the leaves are oiled up you can roast them while the soup is a'simmerin. They only need about 6-8 minutes. Closer to 6 for the smaller leaves, so I recommend checking in at 6 minutes and taking out any leaves that are already crisp.
Top Tip: Make it creamier
You can easily make the soup feel creamier and more luscious (without adding any new ingredients) by just blending up some of the potatoes and broth to a creamy consistency, then adding it back into the soup. Just make sure you do this before adding the kale so the whole soup doesn't turn green.
To make it creamier: take out about a half cup of liquid and half cup of the diced potatoes (it doesn't have to be perfect) and blend it up with an immersion blender. You can also just immersion blend in the pot or use a potato masher to break up some of the potato.
Finish the soup
The fresh kale leaves go in either right before the soup is ready (at around the 25 minute mark) or even after you've taken the soup off the heat. I put the kale in after turning off the heat because I like it to stay a bit firm. If you want it really soft, then put it in at the 25 minutes mark.
After adding the fresh kale leaves be sure to taste and adjust the seasoning to your preference. If the taste is to your liking, then the soup is ready to garnish and serve.
Serving Suggestion
This soup is really nice served with the crispy kale leaves as a garnish, either whole or crumbled on top. Some fresh cracked black pepper is also really nice.
If you want to make it even heartier, enjoy with some fresh crusty bread.
Related
Looking for more recipe inspiration? Maybe you'll like one of these:
Recipe
Tuscan Kale Soup with Fennel Sausage & Potatoes
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground pork about 1lb
- 700 grams potatoes about 1.5 lbs, finely cubed
- 200 grams Lacinato kale one big bunch
- 0.5 cup shallot finely diced
- 5 cloves garlic mashed or grated
- 2 teaspoons flour
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoon dried basil
- 2.5 teaspoons salt or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper or more to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1250 ml water 5 cups
Equipment
- large pot with lid
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F (for the crispy kale garnish).
- Thoroughly wash and dry the kale. Cut the stalks out and dice them finely. Set the leaves aside for now.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in your pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground pork, fennel seeds, half the seasonings and salt. Sauté until lightly browned, breaking it up constantly.
- Add the shallot and garlic, sauté again until aromatic and everything is browned.
- Add the potatoes and water (at least 5 cups or enough to cover).
- Cover with lid and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Add another cup of water if the water reduces too much.
- While the soup is simmering, take half the kale leaves and rub them with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Roast them in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes or until crispy. Remove from oven and set aside until ready to serve.
- Chop up the remaining kale leaves into bite-sized pieces and add them to the soup at around the 25 minute mark (or after you turn off the heat if you like them a bit firmer).
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- When ready to serve, lay or crumble the crispy kale on top and more fresh cracked black pepper (if desired).
Comments
No Comments