Creamy Potato, Sausage & Kale Soup

We have to thank The Pioneer Woman again for this recipe. We changed a couple things, but for the most part, it's the same. We've been wanting to make this soup for quite a while, but we've had so much other cooking to do around the holidays. We finally broke out the mandolin and threw this one together one Sunday.


Here's what you need:
12 red potatoes
1 red onion, chopped
1 1/2 lb mild Italian sausage
1 bunch kale
1/2 Tbsp-ish red pepper flake
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 cups whole milk
4 cups half 'n half
Splash of heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper


Here's what you do:
Start by thinly slicing your potatoes with either a mandolin or by hand. Sorry, no picture. One of us was slicing the potatoes, while the other was cleaning up the kale.


Also, start a pot of water, filled to about halfway, boiling. Your potatoes will bring the water level up a lot.


Rinse your kale and tear into bite size pieces. Throw it into a bowl and soak with water. Let that sit while you prepare the rest of the soup.

Your water should be boiling, so salt the water a bit with kosher salt and drop in the potatoes.

Let those cook for 8-10 minutes, or until they are fork tender and break apart a bit.

Strain the potatoes and set aside. 


Break up the sausage in the same pot you used to cook the potatoes.

Toss in the onion and brown the meat completely.

Once everything has browned, drain off as much of the fat as you can and then add in the red pepper flake and oregano.

Give that a stir, then add the chicken stock.

Then add the whole milk...

And, add the half and half.

Let that simmer for about 30 minutes. 

Next, add the potatoes back into the mix.

Then add the kale.

Stir everything well to combine all the ingredients. Add just a splash of heavy cream to the mix at the very end.

Bring that back to a simmer for another 10 minutes.


Serve immediate.

Enjoy!