Kind of an exciting week this past week. My first grandchild arrived 3 weeks earlier than expected. Everyone is doing well; She is a healthy and beautiful girl and I am so excited for the new parents and all the adventures they will have. It’s super sweet to see my son who is a pretty big guy holding his tiny daughter, melts my heart how protective he already is with her.
I wanted to make something for when everyone got home from the hospital. I wanted to make it something warm and comforting plus easy to reheat. Soup is where my mind immediately goes. I can’t think of anything more comforting, well I can but I wanted to make it a meal in itself that wasn’t too spicy, too acidic, something a little on the soft side of the food equation.
Today’s soup is what I came up with for the ingredients I had on hand. I tend to do this, I really try to use ingredients that are in my fridge. I had a quarter piece of green cabbage and also half a head of baked cabbage in the vegetable drawer. I always have sausage on hand either in the fridge or freezer. It’s also on my shopping list today just to replace what I used. I have homemade chicken stock in the freezer all the time. The soup comes together really easily and is quite tasty, I think even if you don’t particularly like cabbage, I think you will like it, the dominant flavor is from the homemade chicken stock and then the sweet Italian sausage. So give it a try.
Cabbage soup and sausage
A very quick and easy soup to warm the stomach
- Olive oil
- 1 head cabbage Slice thinly or through a food processor
- 3 Links Sweet Italian sausage Shell removed
- 1 medium yellow onion cut into cubes
- 4-5 cloves garlic ground
- 4 big carrots Peeled and sliced
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 28 oz can Diced tomato
- 6 cups Chicken stock
- Crushed red pepper
-
In a large dutch oven or stock pot, mix a little olive oil. After the pot heats up, add the removed casing or the bulk sausages, crumble and cook mainly for about 8-10 minutes. Add the onion cubes and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute.
-
Raise the heat to medium-high and add in the cabbage along with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cabbage begins to wilt and release some moisture.
-
Add the diced tomatoes, carrots and chicken stock and bring to a boil. After boiling, cover and lower the heat to a boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, remove from heat and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with a scattering of crushed red pepper flakes to add a little heat and enjoy!
