This is a variation on my lentil soup I make often. I grow kale each year, freeze it for winter
and am always looking for another way to use it. This is coupling it with pumpkin and
beans.
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 cups of chopped raw pumpkin, skin removed
1 cup dry Great Northern beans
1 bay leaf
2 sausages, sliced and chopped into chunks (rope sausage or
sweet Italian sausage)
3 cups of chopped kale leaves (lightly packed)
Salt and pepper to taste
Pepper flakes to taste if you are using Italian sausage and like a
little heat (Optional)
Presoak your beans over night to speed up cooking
process. Drain well just before using.
Brown your sausage until done and cut up into small pieces. Set aside.
Chop your onions and garlic.
Heat a saucepan or soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and soft. Add garlic and sauté for one minute.
Stir in the broth, pumpkin, strained soaked beans and bay leaf, reduce heat
to medium low and cook for an hour to an hour and a half or until the pumpkin
is soft and the beans are fully cooked. Add additional broth or water if your liquid is evaporating.
Add browned sausage and cook 10 minutes longer or until the
sausage is good and hot and cooked through. I use Italian sausage in my lentil
soup and think it goes well here adding more flavor to the soup. You may wish to use a nice local homemade
rope sausage.
Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste and if you like pepper flakes add a pinch of pepper flakes for heat. You may leave this out if you like. The soup still is well flavored.
Add the kale leaves and cook for just 1 or 2 minutes longer
until the kale is wilted, but still bright green. You can also use frozen kale. I do.
Ladle the soup into serving bowls and serve hot with a piece of nice crusty bread to soak up the juices.
Great on a rainy fall day. Have a great day and be happy. May God bless you and yours.
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