Portuguese Kale Soup

www.michaelsprovision.com

Portuguese Kale Soup is a fond memory for me. As a child, my mother would start this soup early in the day and finish cooking it on the woodstove. We would walk into the door after school, smell this soup and run for bowls. 

I have made many versions of this soup over the years, but have come to the conclusion that simple is better. And this recipe doesn't get much more economical or simple. 

The only ingredient you may be challenged to find is the Portuguese sausages: linguica and chourico. I buy mine from a store in Fall River, MA called Michaels Provision Company. Lucky for me, Micheals also ships their meat. 

If you can't find linguica or chourico, you can use plain ground pork, and add 2 tbsp of smoke paprika to your soup. This will give you the flavor/color. 

Portuguese Kale Soup

1 cup dried dark red kidney beans
1 cup dried navy beans
3 quarts homemade stock or water
1/2 pound linguicia
1/2 pound chourico
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
4 cups fresh, chopped kale (or frozen)
2 cups fresh potatoes (Cut as you wish. I like mine quartered, skin on.)
2 cups fresh carrots (Optional. My mom hate carrots in this soup.)
1 cup tomato juice


The night before, rinse the beans, and add to slow cooker with the stock. Turn to high and go to bed. (For me, I usually am doing this at 10pm, back to it at 8am.)

In the morning, cut up the sausage and cook in a frying pan for a few minutes. (If you are using regular pork sausage, cook completely and drain before adding to slowcooker)

Add cooked sausage, kale, tomato juice, potatoes, garlic powder and salt. If I forgot anything, add that too. Cook on high. 

In about four hours your soup will be ready! If you need to leave it for the day, cook it on low. 

When you are ready to serve the soup, crumble some kale in the bottom of the bowl (I keep frozen kale on hand just for this!) and pour the hot soup on top. While you are waiting for the soup to cool down, the kale is steamed. Stir and enjoy! 

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