This recipe can be used as a guide for whatever vegetables, meat or beans you might have on hand. It is warming, nourishing, and comforting.
Ingredients
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 fennel bulb, diced
• 2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 pound hot Italian sausage (or meat of choice)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-5 carrots, diced
• 1-2 turnips, diced
• 1-2 rutabagas, diced
• A sprig of thyme, parsley, and/or one bay leaf
• 2 bunches kale, ribs removed and cut into bite-sized pieces.
• 2 cups cooked cannellini beans
• 2 quarts bone broth, vegetable stock or water (use less or more to reach consistency you prefer)
• 2-3 Tablespoons fat (olive oil, butter, lard)
1. Heat a wide soup pot on medium, add fat of choice, along with onions, fennel bulb, fennel seeds and a little salt and sauté until translucent.
2. Add the sausage and the garlic, sauté until the sausage is cooked, breaking it up into bite-sized pieces as you do.
3. Then add the root vegetables (carrots, turnips, rutabaga) along with herbs that you have (sprig of thyme, parsley, a bay leaf – one or all would be good) and stir to coat with oil. Add a cup of bone broth, lower heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables soften.
4. . Then add the rest of the stock/broth along with the kale, bring to a simmer. Cover and allow to simmer until vegetables are soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove herb sprigs if you added them.
It will taste best the next day, but can be served immediately.