Sausage, Kale, and Sweet Potato Soup

Directions

1. Add a few pours of olive oil and the butter to a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat on medium. Add onion, and cook until translucent. Add garlic and carrots, and cook until fragrant, but don’t let garlic burn or brown too much. Add salt, pepper, rosemary, and red pepper flakes to taste.
2. Add sausage, and cook until slightly crisp on the edges—we want it to really meld with the flavor of the onions and garlic, and to release some of it’s fat into the pot. Next, add russet potatoes and cook for a minute or two, just long enough for the potatoes to start sticking to the bottom of the pot, but not enough to burn.
3. Add broth, and bring to a boil, scraping cooked bits off the bottom of the pot. Boil for a few minutes, then add the sweet potatoes. Taste, and add more salt/pepper/flakes, if needed.
4. Turn heat to medium/low, cover, and simmer. When potatoes are soft and starting to break apart (you’ll have to start checking after about 10 minutes), add kale.
5. Cook for a few more minutes, until kale has reduced, and serve (with crusty French bread on a blustery night).