Skip to main content
LoginSign Up
White Bean Soup with Sausage and Kale

White Bean Soup with Sausage and Kale

By Courtney HillOctober 16, 2019

  • Makes
    4 servings
  • Cook Time
    35 minutes

This simple but satisfying one-pot meal is based on Azorean sopa de funcho, or fennel soup. Fresh Portuguese linguiça sausage lends meatiness as well as bit of spice; if it’s not available, Mexican chorizo works well in its place. We skipped the potatoes used in traditional versions of the soup, and we mash half of the beans to lightly thicken the broth. A few fennel seeds heighten the licorice notes of the fresh fennel.

Tip

Don't throw out the fronds on the fennel bulb. Chop them to use as a garnish.

Ingredients
  • ¼

    cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

  • 8

    ounces fresh linguiça or chorizo sausage, cut into ½-inch pieces

  • 8

    medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

  • 1

    teaspoon smoked paprika

  • 1

    medium fennel bulb, trimmed, quartered, cored and thinly sliced crosswise, fronds chopped and reserved separately

  • 1½

    teaspoons fennel seeds

  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper

  • 1½

    quarts low-sodium chicken broth

  • 2

    14½-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained, 1 can roughly mashed

  • 3

    ounces baby kale (8 cups lightly packed)

Step 1

In a large pot over medium, combine the oil, sausage, garlic and paprika. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage has rendered some of its fat and the garlic is lightly browned, 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the fennel, fennel seeds and ¾ teaspoon each salt and pepper, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is slightly softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 2

Stir in the broth and whole and mashed beans. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed to maintain a simmer, until the garlic is fully softened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the kale and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve drizzled with additional oil and sprinkled with chopped fennel fronds.