Kale soup on an icy day….
These cold lonely days require nourishing sustenance.
This soup will fill you up.
The soup isn’t so pretty but I promise you won’t care a bit.
The puree’s flavor is complex with a mild smokey spice from the ancho chilies, a touch of umami from the mushrooms,
some brightness from the celery and a hint of sweet from the onions and carrots.
This recipe makes about 4 quarts. It freezes very well.
Serve it with pearl couscous and chunks of whatever cheese makes you happy. I like briney feta or extra sharp cheddar.
It takes 20 minutes to get in the pot, then an hour and a half to simmer away.
Ingredients:
Vegetables: One pound bag of chopped, cleaned kale, one large onion, 8 oz whole mushrooms, 4-5 stalks celery, 2-3 peeled carrots
2 TBS olive oil
3 Tablespoons prepared garlic or 2 TBS fresh minced
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
4 TBS butter
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp salt & fresh pepper
Whatever cheese makes you happy and however much you need
Optional:
1 medium dried ancho chili
4-5 bay leaves
Roughly chop one large onion, about 3 cups.
2. In a large soup pot, over medium heat, sauté garlic in about 2 TBS of olive oil for one minute. Add onions, stir to coat.
3. Roughly chop celery. Add celery and cleaned mushrooms into pot. Stir to combine, cover.
4. (optional) Wrap one medium dried ancho chili pepper (about 5” without the stem) and about 5 bay leaves in cheesecloth, tie up with twine and place in pot. I love the flavor of the pepper, but I don’t care for the seeds and I want to make sure no bits of bay leaves are in my soup before I use my hand blender.
5. Squash the entire bag of kale in the pot. It’s ok if it’s over the rim, just cover it with the lid. In about ten minutes over medium heat, the greens will shrink by half.
6. Add two cartons of stock, a quarter cup of white wine, the pepper & bay leaf bundle, carrots, butter, salt and a half a dozen or so grinds of black pepper. Bring to boil then reduce to low. Check for salt. In about an hour, the kale will have wilted but will still have some bite.
7. In about an hour and a half, everything is reduced to mush. Remove the carrots (slice them as a garnish) and the bundle. Puree the soup with a hand blender until silky.
8. Prepare pearl couscous as directed. Spoon a healthy portion (at least a half a cup!) of couscous into a bowl, ladle in the soup & top with feta and diced tomatoes or scoop in some sour cream and sprinkle with cheddar and bacon.