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White Bean, Kale and Sausage Soup

Prep Time:  8 Hours, 5 Minutes

     Cook Time:  2 Hours, 30 Minutes

     Serves:  6

No one knows beans quite like local farmer Lucy Doudlah who has loads of recipes and a quick reference guide for how to cook dried beans on her farm’s website. Her favorite no-soak method for cooking dried beans uses a pressure cooker or Instapot. If you want to try this method for the following recipe, just combine the beans and 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker or Instapot, and cook for 35 minutes instead of completing steps 1 and 2 of the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup dried white beans (see note), rinsed
  • Water
  • 1½ teaspoons salt, divided
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for crostini
  • 1 pound bulk Italian sweet sausage
  • 1 medium yellow sweet onion, diced
  • 2 large carrots, cut into ¼-inch cubes
  • 1 large potato, cut into ¼-inch cubes
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 large or 2 small bunches of kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
  • 4 cups organic low-sodium chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 baguette, sliced (optional)
  • 1 cup shredded Asiago cheese (optional)

Directions

  1. In the morning before you plan to make this meal, place the white beans in a large bowl or container and cover with water. Soak for 6 to 8 hours.
  2. A few hours before you plan to eat, add the soaked white beans to a medium saucepan. Cover with at least two inches of water and add ½ teaspoon salt. Cook until al dente (soft with a little bite left in them), about 90 minutes, making sure the beans are covered at all times. Drain, rinse and set aside.
  3. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned, stirring occasionally to break the sausage into smaller pieces. Add the onion, carrots, potato, ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the kale and continue cooking the vegetable mixture until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bay leaves and reserved beans. Cover and bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the beans are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
  4. About 15 minutes before you serve the meal, make the Asiago crostini. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Fill a baking sheet with slices of a baguette, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Bake until toasted brown, about 5 minutes. Top each slice with grated Asiago cheese and return them to the oven until melted, about 1 minute. Serve the crostini with the soup.

Notes

Suggestions Note: Any dried white bean will work, but Lucy loves their new ‘Cannulah’ bean. If you can’t find that, dried navy or Great Northern beans also work great.