Sausage-Potato Soup

We've been guaranteed a white Christmas. This photo was from 7am today.


It snowed Friday. Saturday we had a bit of a reprieve--long enough to get shoveled out and do some final Christmas shopping. Then came more snow overnight and through Sunday. Church services were canceled due to snowy, icy, unplowed roads. As you can see, it's still snowing.

With all this chill, most people are staying home, snug in their warm houses. We've been eating very simply, keeping in mind the feast that's to come on Christmas Eve. This was our favorite this snowy weekend--especially while we watched the Falcons win against the Minnesota Vikings: Sausage-Potato Soup.


Made from a humble tube of breakfast sausage, invented to use up some on-hand ingredients instead of braving the weather to run to the market, this soup really satisfied us in-between shoveling sessions.

And we've been doing a lot of that.

It's guaranteed to warm you up, help blood glucose levels (the exercise from snow removal can drop sugar quickly) and get some healthy veg all at the same time. It's low-fuss, no-nonsense, and takes about 30 minutes to put together in only one pot, providing you already have some cooked sausage on-hand.

You could use any sausage or ground meat/poultry for this soup, according to what you have available and taste preferences.


Sausage-Potato Soup
makes about 6 cups prepared soup

about 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1 pound breakfast sausage, cooked in advance and chilled to remove extra solidified fat
3-5 waxy potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4-inch thick (or as desired)
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
salt, pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flakes, as desired
1 cup cooked white beans (optional)
1 cup chopped frozen spinach

In a large soup pot, saute onion and carrots in olive oil until onion is soft. Add cooked sausage, potatoes, chicken broth and water with a good pinch of salt. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender (about 10 minutes, depending on how large you cut the potatoes). Keep in mind that your sausage might be salty, so don't oversalt.

Taste broth and check for seasoning; season with salt, pepper and red pepper flake as desired. I used a sprinkling of black pepper, about 2 teaspoons of garlic powder and a tablespoon of red pepper flake for added kick.

Stir in cooked white beans and frozen spinach. Heat another 5 minutes or until warmed through. Serve steaming hot in mugs with a piece of crusty italian bread for sopping.

Delicious.