Spring Sausage + Orzo Soup

I recently discovered an interesting product in the supermarket - flexitarian sausages with a 60/40 meat and veggie blend. This is really great for a household like ours where one person prefers more meat to vegetables, and the other more vegetables to meat. Anyway, I obviously got a couple of boxes of these to try in different recipes. With the weather getting better, and I say this with no intention of jinxing it, I am naturally moving towards meals that are lighter. It’s still not warm enough to let go of the soups just yet, so the sausages went into this veggie intense soup with some lovely orzo for the carb quotient. It’s all in one pot which is quite convenient, and perfect for a weekday evening. The most required for this recipe is to chop your veggies well, which will be breeze if you use a food processor with the appropriate blade. I find it meditative to chop vegetables, so I’m still doing it with the knife and board while listening to Taylor Swift in the background. It then comes together fairly easily. You can leave it to cook for 30 minutes while you get other things done or chill with a book, before coming back to do the last bit before serving. It’s hearty yet not too heavy and that’s what I love about this soup so much.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • 340g sausages, diced

  • 1 large red onions, finely diced

  • 2 medium carrots, finely diced

  • 2 sticks celery, finely diced

  • 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 1 red bell pepper, diced

  • 1 cup orzo

  • 1 litre chicken stock

  • 1 red chilli

  • Knob of ginger, smashed

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 4-5 large kale leaves, chopped

  • 50g shaved parmesan

  • Juice of 1/2 lemon

  • Salt to taste

To serve (optional)

  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • Grated parmesan

Method of Preparation

  1. To a pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil. As the oil warms, add the diced sausage and cook till it begins to gently brown on the sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

  2. To the same pan, add the remaining oil. As it begins to warm, add the onions + celery + carrots with some salt. Cook till it begins to soften, about 10 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and give it a good stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the diced bell peppers. Cook for another minute. Return the cooked sausage to the pan along with the orzo and chicken stock. Give it a good stir to combine. As it begins to bubble, add the chilli + ginger + bay leaf to the pan. Reduce the heat to simmer, cover and cook for ~30 minutes.

  3. Remove the chilli + ginger + bay leaf. Stir in the chopped kale + shaved parmesan and lemon juice. Turn off the heat.

  4. Serve hot with a generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and more parmesan if you desire.