It’s cold and rainy here. The kind of day where all you want to make or eat is some flavorful, hearty, simple-to-make soup. I posted this one back months ago, but honestly…it’s worth posting again. When the season begs for the flavor of sweet potatoes, and savory sausage…trust me…this one is worth making over and over again.
This soup is probably one of my all-time favorites. I love hearty and flavorful soups and this one meets both of those requirements. It is also one of those that is even better the next day! The original recipe says to cut the sausage into rounds, but I cut the sausage lengthwise and then crosswise to make half-rounds because I like to have bites that have a little bit of everything each time! It’s also really gorgeous…look at this picture. This is the one that originally snagged me because it was on the cover of Bon Appetit Magazine several years ago. So if you don’t know yet if you trust me when it comes to recipes, then for this one, trust Bon Appetit.
And just in case you’re wondering when you get to the part where you can choose linguica or chorizo sausage…that will depend on your ability to tolerate a little spicy heat. My personal preference is the chorizo, but that tends to be on the spicy side for my kids, so I go with the Linguica because it is more mild. Best case scenario I think for the whole family though is to mix the two, but that means you are buying a package of both and dividing them which gets pricey for the first time you make this. (You can totally freeze the extra for another time though.)
The cook times on this are pretty exact too which is nice. You can serve this up in less than an hour from when you start it. I’d recommend doing all the prep work earlier in the day though because chopping everything takes about as long as cooking it all.
I cut enough potatoes to fill a gallon size ziplock bag. Also, this Gaspar’s brand is the linguica & chorizo that I really like!
I just realized that since the day I posted this turned out to be a crazy one, these are the only pictures I took of the process! Sorry!
If you read the post on how to make your own chicken stock then this is the perfect place to use it!
And now, I give you…the recipe!
SWEET POTATO AND SAUSAGE SOUP
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguiça sausage or chorizo sausage, cut in half lengthwise and then crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.
oh friend–I made one like this in those stormy cold days. I love the mixture of leafy greens (kale, chard or collards) with spicy sausage & sweet potatoes. YOU are speaking my language. What I would give to have an afternoon eating this soup, drinking wine & later coffee with you.
YES!!! An entire afternoon!