Caldo Verde

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 12 ounces smoked sausage (cut into 1/4-inch rounds, (recipe note #1))
• 1 large yellow onion (diced)
• 12 large garlic cloves (coarsely chopped)
• 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (diced)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt (or more, or 3-4 teaspoons kosher salt)
• 1/3 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or more)
• 1 bunch kale (chopped)
• extra virgin olive oil to finish

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat a large soup pot over medium heat until hot. Add the olive oil and the sausage rounds; cook and stir until sausage is browned. Remove sausage from pan.

2. 2

   Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of olive oil from pan (or add more olive oil if you have particularly lean sausage); add onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion is translucent and the garlic is lightly toasted (taking care not to burn it), about 5 minutes.

3. 3

   Add 2 quarts water (recipe note #2), potatoes, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer until potatoes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Mash some of the potatoes to add texture to the soup (recipe note #3).

4. 4

   Add kale and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

5. 5

   Return browned sausage to soup and stir. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and finish with a generous drizzle of olive oil.