Portuguese green soup, Caldo Verde, delivers soul warming goodness with simple ingredients of potato, spicy sausage and kale. This broth based soup is perfect for the first crisp days of fall and the depths of winter.
Fall hit us Pacific North Westerners a little early this year. It’s the first of October and the air is CRISP. I mean like instant Fall crisp. And would you believe our stove is on back order? Yes. We have no heat currently. So, soup is a REAL GOOD THING around our place.
I feel like broth based soups are the best at warming your body right down to your bones. This one here, Caldo Verde, it’s a soul soothing kind of warm. In the 30 minutes it takes to make, and with very few ingredients, Caldo Verde packs in HUGE flavor. I like to use Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage because it really adds a lot of flavor. Traditionalist may frown upon this, so you can substitute a nice chourico sausage, if you please. Grab some Dinosaur kale from the garden or collard greens, anything substantially dark and leafy is good. A few potatoes, garlic, onion and broth. It’s really that easy and talk about a budget meal! Stay warm and spend less. My kind of meal.
Ingredients
- Spicy Sausage – This can vary from the traditional chourico, linguica or simply spicy ground sausage.
- Yellow Onion – I prefer a sweet yellow onion or Vidalia onion.
- Garlic – Pick firm garlic cloves.
- White Wine – What you have on hand. I keep a bottle of basic white wine in my fridge. Something on the lighter side.
- Yukon Gold Potatoes – Thin skinned and medium starch make these the perfect choice for this broth based soup.
- Chicken Broth – 1st Choice: make your own, 2nd choice: Better than Bouillon…it’s really up to you. I like my broth strong and flavorful.
- Kale – Dinosaur kale or collard greens are hearty and hold up in this soup.
Preparation
- Brown sausage in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add onion and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add white wine and cook additional 1-2 minutes.
- Add potatoes and chicken broth, let simmer for about 10 minutes or until fork tender.
- Add kale, salt and pepper. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes, so the flavors develop.
- Serve with crusty French bread and grated parmesan cheese.
Caldo Verde
Ingredients
- ½ lb. Jimmy Dean hot sausage
- ¾ cup yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup white cooking wine
- 2 cups Yukon Gold potatoes diced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups Dinosaur kale or collards rough chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan for garnish if desired
- Crusty french bread if desired
Instructions
- Heat large soup pot over medium heat, add sausage, crumbling as you add to pan.
- Cook sausage, stirring as it cooks until browned.
- Add onion and garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add white wine and stir for about 1 minute.
- Add potatoes and chicken broth, cook until potatoes are fork tender about 10 minutes.
- Add kale and salt and pepper. Cook for at least 30 minutes, allowing flavors to develop.
- Serve with crusty french bread and garnish with parmesan.
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