This week’s recipe for Portuguese Kale Soup comes from summer days spent growing up on Cape Cod.  As you go further out on the Cape there are many Portuguese fishing towns.  We spent many summer days going from town to town, restaurant to restaurant to sample each one’s version of this famous soup.  The original recipe uses linguica sausage and an unusual variety of kale.  We have always used a smoked, spicy sausage such as Andouille or a spicy Italian sausage.  Siberian or Tuscan kale also make a fine soup – use plenty of it and cook it until it’s soft and tender.

 

Portuguese Kale Soup

2 Tbl olive oil

½ lb smoked sausage, thinly sliced (linquica is avaible at Ream’s market in Elburn)

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

Crushed red chili peppers, to taste

1 bunch kale, torn into bite size pieces

2 quarts chicken broth

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1-12 oz can kidney beans, rinsed

½ lb new potatoes, diced

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Sauté sausage in hot olive oil; brown the edges of the sausage to bring out its flavor.  Add the onion, garlic & crushed red pepper to taste; sauté until golden and tender.

Add kale; sauté to coat with oil.

Add chicken broth and tomatoes; simmer until kale is tender.  At this point, add the potatoes and simmer until they are almost done.  Add the kidney and continue cooking until potatoes are tender.

 

Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.

 

Serve with warm, crusty bread.