White Bean and Sausage Soup
This white bean and sausage soup uses Italian sausage meatballs in a herby soup, alongside plump legumes and chunky winter vegetables.
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.olive oil
- 450g / 1lb Italian style sausage casing removed and broken into chunks
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 carrot
- 1 small onion
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 This is an affiliate link.bay leaf
- 800g / 28oz butter beans or cannellini beans 2 cans, drained
- 2 potatoes diced
- 1½ litres / 6 cups This is an affiliate link.chicken stock
- salt to taste
- 50g / 2 cups kale tough stalks removed and cut into small pieces
- 125ml / 1/2 cup single cream / half and half (optional) see notes
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a soup pot. Remove the sausage from the casing, add to the pot, break up the sausage with a spatula and fry until golden on the outside and cooked all the way through, then remove to a separate plate. (If your sausage is very fatty, remove the excess fat but leave 2 tbsp in the pot)
- To the same pot, add the chopped onion, celery and sliced carrot and cook for 10 minutes over low heat, then add minced garlic, basil, oregano and thyme, cook for 30 seconds longer.
- Add the drained canned beans, peeled and diced potatoes, a bay leaf and bring the sausage back to the pot.
- Then top with the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. At the end the potatoes should be soft. If you want to make the soup thicker, remove 1/3 of the beans and potatoes from the pot and blend them into a paste in a blender, then add back to the soup and stir. Or you can skip this step to make it simpler.
- Now add the kale and cook for 5 minutes longer. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- At this point you can serve the soup or you can add 1/2 cup of single cream (light cream) if you desire and warm it through. Both versions taste delicious!
Notes
Adding cream is completely optional but will make for a smooth and luxurious finish or leave it out for a more wholesome bowl.
Nutrition
Calories: 596kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 1318mg | Potassium: 1530mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 2556IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 5mg