Italian Sausage and Kale Soup

by Leah Halmagyi

Ingredients

  • 8 pork and fennel sausages, cut into 2cm pieces
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 brown onions, sliced
  • 2 sticks celery, diced
  • 1 baby fennel, diced
  • 8 cloves garlic, sliced
  • ½ bunch thyme, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 cups white wine
  • 1L chicken stock
  • 2 x 400g can cherry tomatoes, drained
  • sea salt flakes and freshly-milled black pepper
  • 6 cups kale, finely shredded
  • 1 bunch basil leaves, torn
  • juice of 2 lemons

Instructions

1 Fry the pork sausage pieces in a large heavy-based saucepan over a moderate heat in olive oil for 5 minutes, until browned. Scoop out and set aside, then add the onions, celery, fennel, garlic, thyme, seeds and bay leaves, then cook gently for 5 minutes until very aromatic.
2 Mix in the tomato paste, cook for 2 minutes, then pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Return the sausage pieces, pour in the stock and tomatoes, then simmer for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the kale, basil and lemon juice. Once the leaves have wilted, serve with bread.