Tag Archives: sausage

Spicy Tuscan Soup

In the beautiful realm that is Tasty Kitchen (I know, it’s like I’m addicted) this recipe has gotten rave reviews time after time, and after staring at its mug on the internet for any number of months, I finally did my duty to mankind as well as to my own palate and made it.

And am I ever thankful that I did.

I figured if it was anything like Olive Garden’s Tuscan soup, it would be pretty dang good. Well, it surpassed even my loaded expectations.

Let me break it down to you real simple-like. In five words: Love, adoration, creaminess, love, creaminess.

Five adjectives? Spicy. Hearty. Satisfying. Flavorful. Delicious.

Five verbs? To eat. To sigh. To crave. To devour. To repeat.

After making it for the first time and failing to photograph it, I immediately made plans for making it again. So here is take 2, which I will hereby refer to as “Take Awesome.”

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

1 lb spicy breakfast sausage (I used Jimmy Dean’s hot sausage)

1 red onion

3 slices bacon

5 cloves garlic

3 medium sized red potatoes

1 quart chicken stock

3 c roughly chopped kale leaves

1/2 c heavy whipping cream

Salt and pepper, to taste (go heavy on the black pepper)

Good evening, ingredients! (It’s always important to say a kind ‘hello’ to the ingredients–it makes them ever so much more cooperative.)

Step one: grab that sausage.

Tear it into rustic chunks with your fingers. I tried to make them all about the size of a meatball.

Then lick your fingers.

Just kidding! Please don’t obey me blindly. Except when I tell you to send me things–like a sample of that batch of cookies you just made. In that case, don’t question me. Or else.

Toss the sausage into a hot Dutch oven, and cook it over medium high heat until cooked through (about 10 minutes).

You’ll have to give it the occasional stir to make sure the pieces get browned all over. Remove the sausage to a plate and set it aside. But don’t worry–we’ll meet again.

Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and dice the bacon. Aren’t red onions just beautiful?

Make sure when you snap the picture that the bacon is completely out of focus. Check.

Add the bacon to the Dutch oven, and cook over medium-high for 5 minutes.

Soon it will start browning and your salivary glands will be activated.

Just direct your streams of drool away from the pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

Wash the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, and then slice them into half-moons (1/4” slices).

Now let’s return to the Dutch oven, and pour in that chicken stock.

Toss in the potatoes too, while you’re at it.

Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes, and test the potatoes for doneness. You want them to be almost done–but not quite.

In the meantime, wash and roughly chop the kale. My grocery store was out of their supply of kale–with the exception of these prewashed, prechopped bags. My hand was forced! In Take 1, I dealt with kale in its natural state. But in Take Awesome, the work was all done for me. I have mixed feelings about that.

So back to business: once the potatoes are almost-done-but-not-quite, add the heavy cream . . .

. . . the reserved sausage . . .

. . . and the kale.

I like lotsa lotsa kale. Plus, it wilts down just like spinach. So what looks like ‘lotsa lotsa’ will actually become a healthy, moderate amount.

It’s also the right time to add copious amounts of black pepper. Taste the soup and season it to your liking.

Simmer it for another 5 minutes, stirring to incorporate everything.

Grab a ladle, and let’s serve it up.

Some buttery chunks of garlic bread wouldn’t be amiss at all. No sirree.

I love how this soup is full of ‘stuff’–it means that each bite is a fun adventure in flavor and texture. Just look at what this spoonful turned up.

If I haven’t made myself clear, I highly, highly recommend this soup.

But the only thing that will fully convince you of the awesomeness and wonder of this soup is actually making it. So what are you waiting for? Grab your grocery list! Add the ingredients! Hop to it!

Thanks for letting me order you about–it may happen quite frequently on this blog. It helps give my bossy older sister tendencies a good airing.

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Brats and Peppers

This is another recipe that I don’t really consider a “recipe” . . . but as they say, one man’s this-is-not-a-real-recipe-it’s-just-stuff-tossed-together-in-a-pot is another man’s blissful dining experience. I discovered Johnsonville’s precooked brats sometime in college, and have come back to them ever since, fried in a pot with peppers. It’s a simple dinner, it’s super quick to prepare (about 15 minutes total–really), and it tastes so good! I’m not a huge hot dog person and I don’t generally go for precooked forms of meat such as these, but I can’t keep away from brats. They’re just that amazing. But . . . if you want to stay away from processed food, you can totally just substitute some regular, uncooked sausages (even some you’ve made yourself!)–it just ups the cooking time by another 10 to 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the pieces. In fact, just last night I made it with Polish sausage from our deli and it was also a winner.

Ingredients

(Serves 3)

1 package precooked bratwursts

2 bell peppers (any color)

1 onion

Splash of beer or white wine (optional)

Salt

Black pepper (generous amount)

Here’s the humble assembly of ingredients, sans the alcoholic addition I will be making later.

This is so easy–chop up them bratwursts.

Toss them in a hot pan or pot. Word to the wise–you do not need oil or butter! The meat has enough fat, and it will release plenty of grease as it cooks.

Cook them over medium high heat while you chop up the onion.

Since adding the veggies will also add moisture to the pan, this is your one chance to get a lovely brown sear on the pieces of meat. I usually cook them for about 5-6 minutes by themselves. Check out the little brown spots. That spells deliciousness.

Once the brats have turned a nice toasty brown, add the chopped onion.

Continue to cook on medium high while you chop up the bell peppers . . . I chose for my peppers to be yellow and green. But I could have chosen red and orange. Or red and green. Or green and orange. Or yellow and orange. However, red and yellow would never have worked. Never in a million years.

Stir the brats and onions occasionally, and cook them for 5 or so minutes by themselves.

Now let’s add the peppers.

Splash in the white wine or beer, if you’re using that.

No need for the precision of a measuring cup. No sirree.

Cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the peppers are a little softened but still a little crunchy and fresh-looking. Season with salt and tons of freshly ground black pepper–the pepper will add a lovely zip to it.

Serve over white rice, pasta, or potatoes, your pick! My pick is always white rice, and it has been since I was about 3 months old.

For some reason I am compelled to eat this meal with chopsticks.

Those little chunks of meat are so . . . grabbable.

Seriously guys, if you’re in a quandary and don’t know what to make some night, this is a quick, easy and great-tasting solution. I will continue to eat it until the day I die.

Especially because of the white rice.

I know I have a problem with the steamy, fluffy stuff. I can’t help it.

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