easy bean n green n sausage soup

As self-appointed Soup Queen, I lay the groundwork for the upcoming Deep Soup Season while everyone else is still baking cookies. I have done pantry inventory. I have designed the soup menu. I got a new soup cauldron. I am only ever one espresso shot away from reviving the Soup Newsletter from the grave.

What’s with the soup obsession? Soup is economical and practical: a way to make dinner that solves lunch for the rest of the week, transforms random odds and ends (like parmesan edges) into something useful, and accomplishes a ton of cooking while only having to wash one single pot. But also because soup is therapeutic: a grounding ritual we can choose that almost always gives to us more than it takes of us, which IMO we could all use in our 2022 intentions. Soup is a whole lifestyle and I welcome you all to prepare for the rise of Soup Kingdom!!!!!

This particular soup is a template soup: fry up some ground sausage (any kind, including plant-based) in olive oil, add onions and garlic, and simmer together with broth, beans, and seasoning for however long you’ve got time for. This kind of soup can take any green—rapini, kale, chard, even spinach—but I like to use escarole, a popular Italian pairing with beans, when I can find it. You can keep this as simply or as heavily seasoned as you want, but the lemon at the end is non-negotiable: with a short simmering time this soup doesn’t have the same depth of flavor as one cooked all afternoon, but perked up with a heavy-handed dose of acid, you really wouldn’t know it.

RECIPE

An iconic trio—beans, greens, and sausage—join forces to create a brothy soup/stew (stoup?) ready in about 30 minutes. Traditionally this dish features escarole, a leafy lettuce-looking green in season during the fall, but rapini, kale, or chard can stand in if you can’t find it.

Effortful time:

Total time: 30 minutes

Makes 4 bowls

You need

  • 1 tbsp. olive oil

  • 1 lb. mild Italian pork sausage, can sub chicken if you prefer

  • 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

  • 2 cans white beans, like navy or cannellini, drained and rinsed

  • 12 cups chicken stock

  • 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

  • 1/2 tsp. chili flakes

  • A parmesan rind, entirely optional

  • Salt, to taste

  • 1 large head of escarole, end trimmed and rinsed well, chopped into bite-sized pieces; can sub rapini or chard (stems removed)

  • 2 lemons’ worth of juice

  • A drizzle of olive oil and shaved parm, for serving

  • Freshly cracked black pepper and chili flakes, to taste

MAKE IT

  1. Brown the sausage. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven (5 qt.) over medium-high heat. Remove the sausages from their casings and brown them in the pot, breaking them up into medium-sized chunks as you go, about 8 minutes.

  2. Sauté the aromatics. Scoot everything in the pot to the side so that oil pools in the empty space. Add the onion to the pot and sauté until transluscent and soft, about 6 minutes. Then add garlic to the pot and sauté 30-60 seconds, until fragrant and no longer firm but not brown.

  3. Build and cook your soup. Add the 2 cans of drained and rinsed beans to the sausage-onion-garlic mixture. Pour in the 12 cups of chicken stock and season it with 1/2 tsps. thyme and chili flakes. Tuck in the parm rind if you’re using one. Partially cover and simmer it all together for a minimum of 35 minutes (I usually go 45 just because I get distracted trying to do the dishes). This is a great time to prep your escarole.

  4. Finish the soup. Once you’ve hit your intended cooking time, add all of your chopped and rinsed escarole to the pot. It will immediately start to wilt and shrink. Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes more. Add the lemon juice, then test for salt.

  5. Serve it up. Ladle into bowls and topped with shaved cheese, more chili flakes, a drizzle of oil, and some crusty bread.