This may be the perfect soup.
A friend of my mom’s has had this recipe in her family for like 100 years and won’t share it with anyone. Esoteric ideas about gatekeeping something like a recipe is so weird, right? Anyway, the soup typically comes along when someone dies or something bad happens, cause that’s when you bring people soup.
My mom’s partner passed away in fall of 2020 and she received the soup, as one does while grieving. The recipe was asked for and denied. My mom, being a chef, decided to reverse engineer it. She then sent the recipe to her friend and apparently it was identical. My mom rules.
Here’s the recipe (from my mom!):
Chop & sauté an onion, a carrot & a celery stalk till softened. Blend in 2T dried rosemary. Add 2/3 lb Italian sausage & brown. Add 4T tomato paste & 3-4 minced garlic cloves. When garlic is fragrant add 4 cups chicken broth, 2 cans white beans, 4 cups kale. Simmer 30 mins or so. Season to taste w/ salt & pepper. Add splash of balsamic & some parm & croutons to serve