Peasant Soup

Minestrone soup was sounding good to me the other day. I started to explore the many different versions of this soup there are out there and also ran onto some Portuguese soups that were similar, but all involved sausage of some kind. Well, I had a fridge full of various things, including sausage, that needed to be used up, so I came up with this recipe.

6 cups of water ( I added about a tbsp of Superior Touch Better than Bouillon Chicken Base - but I think the soup would have been just as good with plain water.)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 sweet potato peeled and cubed

1 yellow potato cubed

1 chopped carrot

1 chopped red onion

3 cloves of chopped garlic

3 cups of chopped curly kale

1 15 oz can cannellini beans

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used one flavored with roasted garlic and onions)

1 cup cooked and chopped smoked sausage

2 ribs of chopped celery

2 sliced zucchini

1/2 cup dried orzo pasta

1 tsp salt

1tsp fresh oregano

2 tbsp fresh basil

1 tsp fresh thyme

parmesan cheese for topping.


Heat oil in a large stock pot. Add onion, celery, carrot, sweet potato, potato, and garlic and saute for until lightly browned. Add water (or broth), canned tomatoes, kale and seasonings. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add beans, sausage, zucchini and pasta and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until pasta is cooked and vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper and top with parmesan cheese.