Portuguese kale soup recipe

Very easy Portuguese kale soup recipe – sopa de couves or couves soup -, simply add in all ingredients and you will enjoy an incredibly tasty soup and almost no dishes afterwards.

Although a long list of ingredients, preparing the soup is easy. You start by boiling what needs the most time to cook (the meat and beans) and at the end add the ingredients that cook faster.

Serves 8 to 10 in 3 hours, originally posted with permission from Ana Patuleia Ortins, 3th March 2006 (Soup / Portugal / Main Dish / Stove / No marination), as one of her many delicious recipes and Guest Chef of the Month March.

The recipe mentions salpicao, which is the Portuguese equivalent of the better known Spanish chorizo: a spicy sausage with a strong red color due to paprika and hot peppers.

Sopa de couves soup ingredients

• 1 pound (450gr) dried red kidney beans soaked overnight in water to cover by 2 inches (5 cm)
• 3 pounds (1.35 kg) beef shin bone or lamb shanks,trimmed of excess fat
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 quarts (2.8 liter) water
• 1 1/2 cups (120 gr) yellow turnip, cut in 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes)
• 3/4 pound (350 gr) chourico or salpicao sausage
• 3 medium Main, Red Bliss or new potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes
• 1 or 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch (0.6cm) rounds
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried chili pepper
• 1/4 cup small pasta, like elbows
• 1 bunch(1-1/2 pounds) (675 gr) fresh collard greens,rinsed trimmed of center rib and torn into 1- to 2- inch (2.5 to 5 cm) pieces
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
• 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to prepare Ana’s Portuguese kale soup recipe

1. Drain and rinse the beans. Place the beans, onions garlic and bay leaf together with the shin bone into a large soup pot. Pour in about 3 quarts (2.8 l) of water or enough to cover the beef shin by 1 inch/2.5 cm. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
2. Simmer the beef and beans while occasionally skimming any impurities from the broth, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. When the beans are very tender, remove about 1 cup to a small dish and mash them with a fork, adding some of the broth. Return the mashed beans to the pot. (You can also mash all the beans through a foodmill if you do not like the texture of whole beans or bean skins.
4. Add the turnip if using and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. If you are using salpicao sausage, remove any clips clamped on the end of the casing. Add the sausages with the potatoes, carrots and crushed red pepper. Continue to simmer until the vegetables are almost cooked, about 20 minutes.
6. Throw in the pasta, kale, olive oil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes. Soup is ready when the pasta is done and the kale is tender.
7. Remove all the meat and sausages from the pot. Trim away and discard any gristle, fat and bone.
8. Cut the meat and sausages in to pieces. For the salpicao, remove and discard the casing before cutting into pieces. Return the meat to the pot or on the side as a separate course. Serve this Portuguese kale soup with lots of crusty bread.