Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup

It's finally cold and rainy and I absolutely love it. My latest obsession is with making soup. There's something so cozy about cooking a big pot full of warm broth and veggies. This soup is so flavorful and has so many great textures. It's filled with sautéed onions, spicy browned sausage, creamy yukon gold potatoes, and dark green kale. Hope you enjoy : )

Ingredients: (serves 6) 

1 lb raw sausage - spicy Italian pork or sweet Italian chicken 

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced 
1/4 cup white wine (optional)

5 cups chicken stock
2 large yukon gold potatoes, diced into about 1 inch cubes 

About 2 cups chopped kale. big ribs removed 

1/4 cup half and half or cream (optional)  

Grated parmesan for topping 

1. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a big pot over medium high heat. When the oil's hot, add the sausage. Break up the sausage with a spoon or fork into pieces. While you're doing this, let the sausage cook on one side so it gets nice and brown. Give the sausage a flip, and continue cooking, breaking up the meat as needed, and stirring only occasionally so that all sides of the sausage get golden. It will take about 8 minutes total to cook.

2. When the sausage is done, remove it to a plate with some paper towels on it, so that the grease can drain off. Pour out most of the grease left in the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon to cook the onion in. Lower the heat to medium. 

3. Add the diced onion, and some salt and pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes or so until it's softened. Add the garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes. 

4. Now you can either add the 1/4 cup of wine to deglaze the pan, or just add in the chicken stock. If you add the wine, let the wine cook for about 2 minutes before adding the chicken stock. Either way, using a wooden spoon, scrape the brown bits from the sausage off the bottom of the pan (this adds great flavor to the broth) 

5. Bring the broth to a low boil, and let the broth cook for like 15 minutes. 

6. Add in the potatoes and sausage. Once the broth returns back to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for another 15 minutes. After fifteen minutes, check a potato and make sure they're cooked all the way. Add more salt and pepper if needed. 

7. When the potatoes are good to go, add in the kale and cream, and cook for 2 more minutes. 

That's it! Top each bowl with some grated parmesan and serve with rustic bread.