Portuguese Kale Soup
Fun fact: My family is part Portuguese on my mom’s side. So, on my journey to learn more about this culture, I stumbled across this recipe while prepping for my very first dinner party this year. Because I wasn’t too familiar with any other Portuguese dish besides jag, it was a risk serving this at a dinner when the whole party is centered around your food. I wasn’t sure I or anyone else would even like it, but I wanted something other than salad as a first course, and it seemed simple enough, so I was willing to give it a try. Also, because I planned on making this a day before the party, if it didn’t work out, I had time for a plan b. Needless to say this was a HIT. This soup was the perfect opening for the rest of the meal that night.
Now that fall is in full swing and it’s getting cooler outside, I’ve been craving more hearty, comforting dishes. So, I revisited this recipe and decided it was time to share it with all of you.
Typically this soup is made with linquica, which is a Portuguese smoked pork sausage. Since that is not readily available here in San Antonio, a good substitute is chorizo. So, that is what I’m using in this recipe below. However, if you are somewhere where you can easily obtain linquica, please use that. Also, if using chorizo, you want to use a higher quality one; preferably one that can be cooked within the sausage casing.
I would also like to note that there are two options for making this soup. 1) Cook half the potatoes in a separate pan and pureeing them prior to adding to the soup. Pureeing them acts as a thickening agent and gives the soup a creamier finish. 2) Cook all the potatoes in the soup without the added step of pureeing/mashing. I will be presenting the first option in the recipe below, but if you’re short on time, go with the second and it’s just as good.
Anyways…enough with the chit chat, let’s do this!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale cleaned and hand torn
3 cups white potatoes peeled and diced
1 cup diced yellow onion
12 oz chorizo sausage
3 cups chicken bone broth
4 cups water
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt
Tools:
large soup pot
small saucepan
immersion blender (optional) or a potato masher
How to Prepare:
In a large soup pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and brown the chorizo sausage links on all sides; about 2 minutes each side. When they are browned, remove them from the pot and slice them into rounds. Then, cut the round slices in half.
In a separate sauce pan, add half the potatoes, a cup of the bone broth and a small pinch of salt. Boil on high until potatoes are fork tender; about 10 minutes. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, use the immersion blender to puree them. If you don’t have a blender, mash them until they are mostly smooth.
Next, when the chorizo is browned and chopped up, add the onions to the soup pot and sauté until they begin to softened slightly. Then return the sausage to the pot along with the chicken broth, water and potatoes. Add a heavy pinch of salt and simmer for 10-15 minutes so that the potatoes begin to cook through.
Add in the kale and simmer for and additional 25 minutes. After this time, stir in the pureed potatoes, taste and add any additional seasoning before serving.
I like to serve this soup with a toasted baguette. I infuse olive oil with rosemary and garlic and brush the bread with that before toasting it in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
Hope you enjoy! Toodles.
