Spicy Sausage & Potato Soup

Okay, I’ll be honest; this soup started out as a knock off from a certain Italian restaurant chain, but since I can never leave well enough alone, I took their idea, did what I always do, and turned it into something I liked better. Uncured Italian sausage comes in a few different varieties, mainly sweet, spicy, or mild. I tend to do a pound of sweet and a pound of spicy, to get a good blend of flavors, but you make it how you want. I’m not the boss of you. But serve this hearty soup with good bread. I’ll boss you about that because your tastebuds deserve it.

Directions

In a large stock pot, crumble and brown sausage on medium heat. If you bought links, remove the meat from the casing before browning. Once meat is browned all the way through, drain fat and move meat to another container lined with a few layers of paper towels to soak up extra grease. But don’t wipe out or clean the stock pot. You’re going to want all those brown bits to flavor your onions. Drizzle in a little olive oil and toss in your diced onions. Turn heat to med-low and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let the onions sweat until translucent.

Add the meat, sliced potatoes, garlic, chicken stock, salt, basil, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. I’m usually heavy handed on the black pepper. You can add less and build up to your taste, but really, I add at least a teaspoon and work up from there until it tastes right.

Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

If I’m doing kale with this, I usually pile a bit in the bottom of the bowl and add the soup on top. The kale will stay crunchy and bright green and pretty and the flavor will still be vibrant. Adding to the soup kinda makes it looks sad and gray after a while. But hey, if you don’t even like kale, don’t add it. I mean, it’s good for you and stuff, but if you like something better, add that instead. Spinach will also work well.

Lastly, the bread. Slice you baguette, boule, or other artisan bread and spread out on a sheet pan. Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and curly parsley, and broil until golden brown. Should take like 5 minutes.

Ingredients

• 2 Lb Italian Sausage (Sweet, Spicy, Mild, Or Mix It Up)
• 1 Brown Onion, Diced Fine
• 1 Lb Potatoes, Cleaned, Halved, And Sliced Thin (I Use Red Potatoes, But Again This Is About You, Not Me.)
• 3 Large Cloves Garlic, Peeled, Smashed, Minced
• 64 Oz Chicken Stock (Or Broth)
• 1 TBSP Dried Basil (Or Fresh, Sliced Thin)
• Red Pepper Flakes (Optional, You Do You)
• Salt
• 1 Tsp (Or More) Fresh Ground Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Awesome Bread Sliced, Toasted, And Buttered.
• Kale, Chopped (Optional)
• Parmesan Cheese, Grated (Optional)