Italian Sausage and Bean Soup with Chard

Ingredients

• 8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, but you could use canned
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. ground fennel
• 3-5 links turkey Italian Sausage
• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 tsp. garlic puree or finely chopped garlic
• 2 cans small white beans, with juice
• Swiss chard – enough to make about 4 large handfuls of chard ribbons
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

1. Set a large soup pot over the stove and add the chicken stock, dried basil, and ground fennel. Bring it to a gentle simmer, then let the broth and herbs bubble quietly while you work on everything else.
2. Press the sausage meat out of its casings. Warm a small amount of olive oil in a pan, add the sausage, and cook until it is deeply browned, using the back of a metal turner to crumble it as it cooks.
3. Transfer the browned sausage into the simmering soup pot.
4. Use the same pan for the onions, adding more olive oil if the pan looks dry. Cook the onions until softened, scraping up the browned sausage bits from the bottom as they sauté.
5. Once the onions are tender, stir in the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the onion and garlic mixture to the soup pot. Pour about 1/2 cup water into the pan, loosen the browned bits from the bottom, and add that liquid to the soup pot too.
7. Stir in the beans with their juice. Rinse each can with about 1/4 cup water, pour that into the pot as well, and keep the soup simmering.
8. Wash the chard thoroughly and remove the stems. Stack about six leaves, fold them in half lengthwise, and slice them into ribbons about 1/2 inch wide. Cut the ribbons into shorter pieces if you want them easier to scoop up with a spoon.
9. After the soup has simmered for at least 30 minutes, stir in the chard ribbons. Simmer for about 10 minutes longer, until the greens are tender and the flavors have come together.
10. Serve the soup hot, passing freshly grated Parmesan cheese for each bowl.
11. If there is a Parmesan rind waiting in the refrigerator, add it at the beginning of the simmering time for extra flavor.