Yesterday, with the rainy remnants of tropical storm Fay pulling into town, I was craving something nourishing and hearty. It wasn’t exactly chilly, but it was cool enough here (especially for August) to give me an excuse to eat soup. I decided on a sausage, white bean and escarole soup.

Here’s how I made it:

I thinly sliced two links of Italian sausage (I like to do this with kitchen shears), and heated a few tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. When the oil was hot, I tossed in the sausage and left it alone to brown for a couple of minutes.

I thinly sliced a whole bunch of green onions, and added the white and light green parts to the pot with the sausage. (I saved the more subtly flavored dark green parts to add later.) I also tossed in ten chopped fresh sage leaves.

I seasoned everything with a sprinkling of salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, then stirred everything to reveal the sausage’s browned underside. I sautéed everything until the onions turned soft, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, I rinsed and dried a bunch of escarole, cut off and discarded the botttom and any damaged leaves, and cut it into bite-size pieces.

I added the escarole to the pot along with six cups of water and another sprinkling of salt.

I simmered the escarole for a few minutes, then added in two cans of rinsed, drained white beans.

I covered the pot and simmered the soup until the escarole was soft and darker green, about 15 minutes. Then I stirred in the dark green part of the green onion.

I simmered the soup for a couple of minutes more, then stirred in a splash of red wine vinegar to brighten all the flavors. It was really satisfying with couple of toasted baguette slices.

Recipe: Sausage, White Bean And Escarole Soup (Cookthink)
Recipe: Toasted Baguette Slices With Olive Oil (Cookthink)

Posted by brys in craving, recipes | | Subscribe to this feed