Portuguese Kale Soup With Beans

SECRET INGREDIENT: pepperoni

Vitamin-rich kale tastes great teamed with sausage, potatoes, and kidney beans. Traditional Portuguese soups include linguiça, a hard-to-find smoked sausage flavored with paprika. Ours uses a mixture of Italian sausage and pepperoni available in any supermarket.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces spicy turkey sausage or Italian sausage, casings removed, if necessary
• 1 1/2 ounces sliced pepperoni, slivered
• 1 large yellow onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 4 cups water
• 8 ounces kale, thick stems removed and leaves sliced, or 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen kale, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 12 ounces red potatoes, halved and sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red-pepper sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups cooked or canned red kidney beans, cannellini beans, or chickpeas, rinsed and drained if canned
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

How to make it   1 hour

• 1

  Crumble the sausage into a soup pot or 5-quart Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add the pepperoni and cook until the fat is rendered, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Discard all but 1 teaspoon of drippings from the pot.
• 2

  Add the onion and celery. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Return the meat to the pot, add the stock, water, kale, bell pepper, and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
• 3

  Stir in the potatoes, red-pepper sauce, and salt. Simmer, covered, until the potatoes and kale are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the beans and cook until just heated through, 5 minutes. Garnish each serving with cheese