A classic, hearty Italian meal with hunks of spicy sausage, soft butter beans, and wilted escarole swimming in a garlicky broth studded with parmesan cheese. This Sausage and Escarole Soup is hearty and delicious without being heavy.
A note on ingredients: My choice is to use red onion and hot Italian sausage, though yellow onion and sweet Italian sausage is more traditional. Escarole is a bitter green, best for sauting or cooking in soups. If you can’t find escarole, try frisee or curly endive
Enjoy the Sausage and Escarole Soup as a hearty lunch or light meal. The garlicky broth feels especially warming on a cold day!
Happy Eating,
~Monique
Sausage and Escarole Soup
8-ish servings
1 tbls olive oil
1 small red or yellow onion, diced
3 Italian sausages, sweet or hot, (or ~roughly 1 lb ground Italian sausage)
6 cloves garlic, sliced
4 cups broth (chicken is classic, but veggie or beef can both work)
1 cup water
1 can (15 oz) butter, cannellini or navy beans, drained and rinsed
A big parmesan or pecorino cheese rind (or use just a hunk of the cheese if you don’t have a rind available)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
~1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (less for less heat)
1 large bunch escarole, washed well and loosely chopped
1 lemon; halved: one have for juice and slice the other half into small wedges
1/2 cup ancini de pepe (patina) or ditalini pasta (or preferred pasta)
To Serve: shaved parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, fresh cracked pepper, crusty bread
Take a moment to prep all the needs: Dice the onions. Remove the casing from the sausages and slice into bite-sized hunks (no prep neded if using ground sausage). Trim the root edge of the escarole. Rough chopped and toss into a large bowl of cold water, swishing around a bit. The dirt will fall to the bottom of the bowl, scoop the chopped escarole out of the water and set in a strainer, in a bowl or on a drying towel until needed. The escarole will be put directy into the soup, so no need to actually dry it.
Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil, pause for a moment before adding the onions. Saute the onions 5 minutes, stirring occacionally.
Add the sausage to the onions (if using ground sausage, just add to the pan and break up into hunks using a wooden spatula). Allow the sausages to mostly cook, again stirring often.
Add the sliced garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, give it a stir and pause. Deglase the pan with a bit of the broth, scrapping off any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining broth, the water, beans and parmesan rind.
When the soup comes to a simmer, add the pasta and keep the heat to a low simmer for 5 minutes. Add the escarole to the pot, it may look like it will not all fit in the pot, but keep pushing it down, into the broth, it will wilt. Cover and continue to cook another 4 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the pasta is just al dente.
Turn off the heat. Squeeze 1/2 a lemon over the soup. Taste and adjust salt and red pepper flakes.
Serve the Sausage and Escarole Soup with shaved parmesan cheese, a good drizzle of olive oil, a turn or two of black pepper, crusty bread and a wedge of lemon.
Store remaining soup in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
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