This is a really good soup that practically cooks itself once the initial prepping is done. It's simple, earthy, and delicious ; one of our favorites .
4 quarts of good homemade chicken stock
1 small onion, minced
2 carrots , scraped and diced
2 stalks of celery, cut lengthwise and sliced thin
1 large bunch of fresh kale
1 1/2 cups of soaked white beans; navy beans can be cooked right in the soup w/o soaking
1 6-8 oz.. boneless, skinless chicken breast ; cut in cubes or preferred small bites
2 ounces of smoked ham, minced
1 medium white turnip, peeled and diced
4 cloves of garlic pressed into 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of olive oil
Put the teaspoon of oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the diced ham and onions , stirring over low heat until softened. Add carrots and celery and continue cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes. Then add the turnip. When everything is golden tinged, remove from the pot. Add the chicken to the pot and cook a few minutes ; avoid browning. Add 2 quarts of stock and keep heat low. Add the other vegetables back to the soup. While soup is cooking, place beans in a smaller pot with 2 cups of water. Cover and bring quickly to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer about 10 minutes, keep beans covered with water. While beans and soup simmers, wash kale and separate stems from leaves. Snip bite sized stems right into the soup. Add the beans and any of their remaining liquid. Continue cooking until beans are soft. When beans are done, add 1 cup of cooked small pasta with enough of the pasta water to cover the pasta. Add very finely snipped kale leaves and cook 3 minutes more. Stir pressed garlic in oil into the soup, stir and cover . Turn heat off and serve . Or cool, and heat to serve. This is dinner with some nice rustic styled bread or whole wheat rusks.
