Spicy Sausage and Kale Soup is awesome too
Spicy Sausage and Kale Soup
from Kevin Gillespie's Pure Pork Awesomeness
This is my mom's all-time favorite thing that I make. If she's sick, I get a call to make this soup. If she has a few days off at home, I get a call to make the soup. For family functions, I get the call. She first had something like this at Olive Garden when I was a teenager. She came home and said, "Kevin, you need to figure out how to make this!" She drove me to the Olive Garden -- 40 minutes away -- specifically so I could taste this soup. It's basically a potato soup with sausage and greens in it. I've been making some version of it now since I was 15 years old. I like the soup kind of brothy. The potato just thickens it up a bit. I also like the black lacinato cake, but you could use other greens if you like.
1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 1/2 cups 1/4-inch diced Vidallia onion
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, about 1/4 cup
1 tablespoon Espelette pepper or hot paprika
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon toasted fennel seeds
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil + more for garnish
3 Yukon gold potatoes, halved and then sliced into 1/4-inc slices, about 3 cups
2 quarts Chicken Stock
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + more for garnish
4 cups packed sliced kale leaves, preferably black lacinato kale, tough ribs removed
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar (optional?)
Refrigerate the pork until well chilled; the fat should be solid and firm. Chill your meat grinder and the large die. Toss 1 1/4 cups of the onion, 2 tablespoons of the garlic, the Espelette pepper, fennel seeds, salt, and red pepper flakes with the pork and mix well. Chill until ready to grind. Assemble the meat grinder and grind the pork into a large bowl.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and swirl to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the ground pork, stirring gently until it just starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups onion and 2 tablespoons of garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Your sausage should be crumbly. Add the potatoes and toss to coat with oil. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover, and decrease the heat to low. Cook until the potatoes are cooked through and are just starting to break apart, about 20 minutes. Remove the lid, add the cheese and kale, and cook until the kale is completely wilted, about 10 minutes.
Just before serving, stir in the vinegar (optional). Garnish each bowl with additional Parmesan cheese and a heavy drizzle of olive oil. The oil and other garnishes take this soup from ho-hum to over the top.
Good to Know:
"When I really want to up the flavor here, I add a little Aromat, a seasoning blend made form dried nutritional yeast, mushrooms, MSG, ad salt. It's canned umami and delivers 100 percent savory flavor." - Kevin Gillespie
