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white bean soup with garlic, kale, and sausage

Monday, March 21, 2011 by alana

There was a bakery in Santa Fe that I used to go to when I was in school, a place called Sage Bakehouse. It was all concrete inside, big and cavernous and always warm from the ovens. They had a few little tables and a counter up front, and I loved to sit there and eat a muffin and just inhale the smell of it all. They had fantastic coffee, and this was before there was wireless everywhere, and you wouldn’t bring your computer- and their muffins were good enough that you didn’t even need another activity besides enjoying the muffin.

The primary draw of Sage Bakehouse was their bread, and they made big mushroom-top shaped loaves of sourdough, not with a crunchy crust that would cut the roof of your mouth, but with a soft crust that sliced well, and it was so good for sandwiches and even better for toast. If it wasn’t a day for a muffin, there was always a toast basket, and they would give you three kinds of toast with a little ramekin of strawberry jam. It was a princess breakfast.

I went there a lot over my four years in Santa Fe, and I almost always went alone. It’s one of the only places that I used to go in that wonderful town where I don’t have a memories of being with other people. It was college, and most places hold some undertone of a dramatic conversation or a heartbreak or something. But I went to Sage Bakehouse to smell the bread, and that is all I ever did there.

For lunch there were also sandwiches, all ready made, and always the same kinds. They were on these big ciabbata type of rolls, and there was a tuna with pesto, and some sort of ham and cheese. They were great, but I usually had the soup.
There was a day when I was there, alone before an afternoon class, and the soup was white bean with garlic and rosemary. I had the soup, and it was a revelation.

I only mention it, because it struck me that as I made a big pot of this soup this week, altered with the variations that the week required, that this soup is the first thing for which I ever asked the recipe.

I finished the bowl of soup, and I mopped up the creamy white broth with my sourdough bread, and when the bowl was absolutely empty, I stood up, and I walked to the counter, and I said, “Please tell me how to make that soup.”
And the the lovely woman with the apron and her hair tied back in a kerchief said this:

“1 pound of dried cannellini beans, covered with water that extends at least 4 inches over the top of the beans. Bring them to a boil, then cover and simmer, along with 5 peeled, unchopped garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs of rosemary, and a whole lot of salt and pepper. Cook for several hours, or until the broth turns creamy. Add more water as you go if it seems to need it.”

That’s it. That was the recipe.

And what happened then was that it became the first soup that I made that my mother had never made. It became a soup that I made for dinner, and then people asked me for the recipe. It was the recipe that made me feel like I might be able to cook.

Over the years, there have been endless variations, but the basic soup is good enough to make over and over. But this week, there was a half can of crushed tomatoes added to the cooked beans. There were several chopped leaves of curly kale. There were three garlic sausages, chopped in little slices. And instead of rosemary, there was fresh chopped sage.

There could also be chicken broth instead of water. And olive oil drizzled on top is a good idea. And parmesan cheese, too, if you’ve got a nub of it around.

And that, friends, is the entire recipe. Until you add something else, that is.
Happy Spring. Judging by the two inches of snow on my car, we still have a good amount of soup weather left.

Filed Under: Beans, kale, Pork, soups Tagged With: dinner

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Instagram post 2337331591407595410_13442450 Sending off my taxes today with intention and prayer that they will be used to support programs for the most vulnerable, and that my little contribution will join with others to help move us towards the country I know we can be. #taxmagic ✨
Instagram post 2335726864949371764_13442450 Goodies en route to @north_plain_farm today for pickup! Word about town is that LOTS of moolah was raised for BRIDGE in this little #bakersagainstracism bake sale. Thanks to North Plain Farm and @raisinporpoise for the organizing, to everyone who bought and bid, and most of all to BRIDGE for the essential work they do. (Want to learn more about BRIDGE? Head to the link in my profile.)
Instagram post 2332756427273440195_13442450 So technically you’re not supposed to send food when trying to find an agent, but I did it it. 10 years ago, my granola helped seal that deal, and he insisted I send it to publishers when we were selling The Homemade Pantry (another general publishing no no) That Landed-a woman-with-no-platform-a-book deal Granola is up for grabs in this amazing bake sale, as well as goodies by some of my very favorite bakers (@madeinghent , @raisinporpoise , and @thedooryard to name a few). Oh and maybe my favorite item in there are the magical @susanspungen ginger chocolate cookies I mentioned a few weeks back, made by Sadie herself. All of this is to support the work of @multiculturalbridge , and the order form is up in my bio. Get to it! #bakersagainstracism
Instagram post 2330317921708403058_13442450 My friend @afgoldfarb has been part of a team of people working on this vital project. The link to learn more and help out is in my profile.
Instagram post 2330131706816229761_13442450 I’ll be baking up a storm for this! Local bakers- there’s still room for more! Let @north_plain_farm know that you want IN.
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Instagram post 2322615811734696638_13442450 Black lives matter.
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Instagram post 2314127252740427104_13442450 Living it up. 💥
Instagram post 2312088043104000827_13442450 Every day my neighbor’s yard gets prettier.
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Instagram post 2311141543964321092_13442450 When I took on a day job a few years ago, I found that the first thing to go was all the homemade stuff I’d been making and writing about over the years. I’m still going out to work most days, but I’m finding now with a full and captive house and more downtime in general that those things I love to make are back. For me, it’s granola, yogurt, bread. Hello, old friends!
Instagram post 2308503311808232748_13442450 All the things in the house pasta: roasted cauliflower, a few sad leaves of kale, one jar of fancy tuna saved for a special occasion (how about Wednesday?), Rosemary, homemade breadcrumbs from the freezer fried in butter, crispy sage leaves, pasta water, salt, so much pepper. Success!
Instagram post 2307412630968777107_13442450 @artbywoodgy made this beautiful thing for me for Mother’s Day. All the veggies are on Velcro so I can plan to my hearts delight.
Instagram post 2306345003953662730_13442450 Happy Mother’s Day to my brave and beautiful mom, who birthed two different humans in such different times in her life. With me she was so young, and she figured it all out just as she was learning how to be an adult. This picture was taken nineteen years later, when she was pregnant again and I was almost an adult myself. Thanks for keeping at it, Mom, and for always showing up with love. ❤️
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Instagram post 2295808104927071821_13442450 A long time ago, Joey talked about his crush on this particular alien-like flower with a good friend of ours. Months later, little bulbs arrived in the mail. We put them in the ground last fall, and now they are everywhere. If that isn’t some kind of magic, I don’t know what is. ✨ (🙏🏻 to @wildflowers1 for the cool vase, too.)
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