Kale, Mennonite Sausage & Potato Soup

As soon as I tasted the Mennonite Sausage that came with the first week's box, I knew I wanted to make soup with it. When kale came in the box the following week, it was kismet: one of my favorite things that my mom would make when I was growing up was a sausage and kale soup. Rather than use a recipe online, which would leave me with odd quantities of things in small containers in the fridge, I simply used all of the kale, leftover sausage, and the entire container of chicken broth (I didn't have enough homemade for this recipe). Here's what I put together:

Kale, Mennonite Sausage & Potato Soup

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 Mennonite sausages, sliced into rounds
3 large red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
900 mL low sodium chicken stock (about 30 ounces))
1 bunch of kale, with the stalks removed and sliced
Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute sausages in large pot until starting to brown. Add the potatoes, white wine, and broth; bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are mostly cooked through. Add the kale; cook uncovered for another 10 minutes or so until the kale and potatoes are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I added no salt, as the broth had enough in it - but if you're using homemade broth, you might need to add some.)

The soup was simple, and really put the sausage on display: the slightly peppery and smoky flavor of the sausage shone through. The kale was delicious, having soaked up the flavors of the sausage along with its leafy goodness, and the potatoes provided some necessary heft to the soup. We had some great bread with it that P picked up on his way home: an herb and onion batard from Fred's Bread. While the soup was hot, the supper was a nice, light ending to a warm day.