This was an adaptation of Frances Mayes’ Zuppa di Cavolo Nero Cannellini, e Salsicce.  If you’ve read any of her Tuscan books, you may find, as I, that your mouth is watering through them.  The simple, rustic traditional farm country recipes that she works hard to perfect as she settles into life in a villa in Tuscan Italian country have crept into my cooking mentality and left me craving basic ingredients like beans and kale.

I substituted navy beans for cannellini in this recipe and cut down on the amount.  I also added a lot of kale and more sausage than the original recipe called for.

It sounds like it would be a very boring dish but was delicious, satisfied my husband’s craving for soup, and was extra quick and easy. I can’t wait to make it again on a cold, wintery night or a spring afternoon when my kale is mature enough to harvest.

Ingredients:

4 T extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. Italian sausage removed from its casings

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 onions, diced

1/2 c. dry white wine

9 cups chicken stock

8 c. fresh kale torn into bite sized pieces

1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

2 c. cooked white beans

Method:

Heat the oil in the bottom of a heavy stock pot.  Brown the crumbled sausage in the oil.

Add garlic and onions and saute until translucent.

Deglaze the pan with the wine.

Add the chicken stock.  Bring the liquid to a boil.  Toss in the kale and thyme and simmer 15 minutes.

Add the cooked beans and heat through before serving.

This would be a great low carb. dish with the beans omitted, vegetarian with the sausage left out and vegetable broth substituted.  It would need a lot more seasoning to be vegetarian and delicious, however, since most of it comes from the sausage.