White Bean Soup with Sausage Meatballs

One of my husband’s favorite sayings is, “Soup is not a meal.” Well, this is one of his exceptions; white beans, sausage, and kale are sure to fill you up and the savory flavors in this soup are mouth watering. While sausage may not be considered a healthy food, you are getting a double dose of good with fiber rich, energy inducing white beans and the nutrient dense super green,kale! Serve it up with a glass of Chianti (hello antioxidants) and a hunk of ciabatta bread and It’s the perfect snowy night meal.

What Do I Need?

8 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock

1 Large Yellow Onion, Chopped

3 Stalks of Celery, Chopped

3 Carrots, Chopped

3 Cloves of Garlic, Minced

½ t Oregano

1 Bay Leaf

12 Oz Cannellini or Great Northern Beans, Drained

1 Bunch of Fresh Kale, striped from stem and torn or chopped into bite size pieces

6 Oz Tomato Paste

1 Ib Hot Italian Sausage (bulk or stripped from casing)

1 Ib Sweet Italian Sausage (bulk or stripped from casing)

1 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano (or toss in an old rind for flavor)

1 Lemon

Now What

In a large pot, heat 2 cups of chicken stock, when it is warm, add your onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the remainder of your stock and your bay leaf and oregano, bring to a simmer, cover and cook on a low simmer for one hour. If you have any old Parmigiano cheese rinds in the fridge or freezer, toss one in! they lend a tremendous flavor to soups and sauces. I always have a stockpile on hand.

While your soup is cooking, remove the kale from its spine and tear into bite size pieces, then remove the casings from your sausage if necessary and roll the meat into 1” balls. I use hot and sweet sausage as I prefer the hot sausage meatballs and my husband likes the sweet, but if you have a preference you can stick with that. You should have between 50 – 60 mini sausage meatballs.

After an hour, add your tomato paste, mix well raise heat and bring to a boil then add meatballs carefully, cook for 5 minutes. Now add your kale and beans, stir gently for 5 minutes then decrease heat, cover and cook for 30 – 40 minutes of until sausage meatballs are cooked.

Remove from heat and stir in the juice of one lemon and your Parmigiano Reggiano, stir and serve.