Certain members of my family are soup-for-dinner skeptics. One extremely cold January, when I was up visiting in New England, I made a cauliflower-and-butternut curry soup from Food & Wine. My relatives ate it, that one time, but only because they had raging head colds and were amenable to being fed (as they might say) like babies. Any other time, a smooth soup is, for them, a very hard sell.
That curry squash soup is a good recipe, for we correct people who believe that a pureed soup goes down well on a cold day. But this other one, which I have had so long that the blog where I originally found it has gone defunct (rest in peace, louanneskitchen.wordpress.com), is different. It’s got a blended squash base, sure, but it’s also got sausage in it, which ups the protein, and kale, which adds interest. You can pack it for lunch along with a piece of bread and feel satisfied. And it adapts easily for vegetarians, with the help of the new “sausage” from Beyond or Impossible.
I like to use the small honeynut squashes Vest Berries Farm sells at the Athens Farmers Market, when they have them. Preparing honeynuts is more work, but they have brilliant, bright-orange flesh that’s sweet and intense. In this soup, where part of the pleasure of eating it is the contrast between the base puree’s orange-and-yellow color and the kale’s greenness, the honeynut really shines.
Sausage, Squash and Kale Soup
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized butternut squash, or honeynut squashes to equal the weight (aim for a total weight of about 2-3 lbs.)
- 1 lb. loose Italian or breakfast sausage OR Beyond or Impossible Italian or breakfast “sausage”
- 3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 3/4 cup white cooking wine (original recipe called for Riesling; I just use the Kroger-brand cooking wine)
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 tbsp. garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (can substitute a yellow or orange bell pepper here, but don’t use a green one, as it’ll throw off the color of the soup)
- 1 jalapeño pepper, diced (leave in some seeds if you want more spice; de-seed if not)
- 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 small bunch kale, de-stemmed and well-chopped (lacinato works best, in my experience)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. (Side note: When I started de-seeding squashes using a one-piece ice cream scoop, my life got much better.) Cut the squash again lengthwise. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until you can poke a fork or paring knife into it easily (I’d start checking at ca. 20 minutes; earlier if you are using honeynuts). Remove from oven, cool, and cut off skins; chop up flesh and set aside. (Can be done ahead several days; I stick the squash in the oven any time I have something else baking at 350.)
- Fry sausage or “sausage” in your soup pot in a bit of the oil, at medium heat, until cooked through and caramelized. Deglaze pan with wine and cook sausage further until wine evaporates. Remove sausage from pan and set aside. (If you use the lid of the pan for the sausage resting place, you save yourself the washing of a plate.)
- Cook onion, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapeño in remaining oil until the onions are transparent, about 8 minutes.
- Add chopped baked squash and broth to the pot. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Puree mixture in the post using an immersion blender (or remove to blender to puree). Add the kale and cook for another 10 minutes, until a test piece is toothsome. (An option for those with kalephobics, young or old, in the house: Pre-cook the kale in a separate big pot of salted boiling water, then squeeze the water out well and chop finely. Serve on the side, for those who desire it.)
- Add sausage, cream, and sage, and simmer for 5 minutes to combine.
