Italicious

It appears that Charleston decided to skip fall and head straight for winter, it is cold outside, oddly it is supposed to get up in the 80’s later on this week, so my wardrobe will remain schizophrenic probably up until January. We’ve had some soggy days where a thick potato soup was the only solution for dinner. My husband was disappointed when he heard that we were having soup for dinner, imagining a thin broth with a carrot and a potato floating around, he pretends to not like soup, but then ate two full bowls and was sad when he discovered that he’d finished it. I don’t think they do much soup in Naples.

I recently learned that kale has a lot of calcium, something that I probably should have known, but I have always associated calcium with dairy and not with leafy greens. I went out that day and bought some and realized that I didn’t know what to do with it once I got it home. It took me a day or two of cold rainy weather to think of soup. With the three potatoes in my pantry, an onion, a celery stalk, a carrot and some leftover ham I made a thick delicious soup that I am wishing I still had a bowl of to heat up.

Kale and Potato Soup

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut up into small pieces
• ½ a bunch of kale, washed, stems removed and chopped
• 1 cup of ham, cut into small cubes
• 2 cups broth (I used vegetable, but you can use anything that you have on hand)
• 4 cups water (you could stick to broth and not use water, but all of the vegetables add enough of their own flavor that you don’t want to overpower the soup)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a heavy bottomed soup pot, add onions, sauté for a few minutes until they become translucent. Add the celery and carrot and sauté for another minute before adding the potatoes, ham, kale and the bay leaf. Add the broth and enough water to cover, bring to a boil and lower the heat to let simmer. Stir occasionally, adding water if it starts to dry out as it is cooking.

Once the potatoes are fully cooked press them with a wooden spoon against the side of the pot. There may be an easier way to mash them in the pot, but this worked for me. Mashing them every time I stirred the pot while it was simmering on the stove. I let it cook for about 2 hours, but it will be fully cooked after an hour. Serve hot.

One Year Ago: Pizza for Lunch and Pizza for Dinner

~ by italicious on October 20, 2009.

Posted in carrots, celery, gluten free, onions, potato, prosciutto, soup
Tags: kale, potatoes, soup