Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup

One of Anthony Bourdain's new No Reservations episodes featured an archipelago of 17 or so islands right smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean called the Azores. It's Portuguese dominated, so of course all the food has Portuguese influence. He was served a Kale & Potato soup (I think it's called Caldo Verde or something like that). It was served chunky with cubes of potatoes and pieces of kale distinctly visible all boiled together in a big stock pot - chunky is the way Anthony preferred it. He mentioned that it's also served in many restaurants, pureed, which is great because that's how I prefer my soups...(sorry, Tony).

As they listed off some of the typical ingredients found in the national soup of Portugal (Anyone know what the national soup of the US is???) - I realized that I had all the ingredients - each individually waiting to be cooked. Little did they know they'd come together to form a surprisingly savory dish inspired by some islands seen on TV. I found a couple of recipes online to make sure I had the idea right in terms of ingredients used. As it's always said, "Every family has their own special recipe of a dish".....right? Whether it's mole sauce in Mexico or my mom's special sticky fried rice...every family has their own recipe of a traditional dish that can't be replicated by another family....so here's a stab at my "traditional" Portuguese Kale & Potato Soup:



Ingredients:

1 Bunch Kale - leaves sliced into thin strips (stems removed)
4 Medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 Tbs Olive Oil
6 oz. Chorizo, diced
1 White Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small Carrots, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
Salt/Pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute the chorizo in olive oil. Once it's browned, remove the bits of sausage and set aside. Add onions, garlic and carrots and cook about 2 minutes until it's a bit soft. Add in potatoes and kale - stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Simmer until potatoes are soft, salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the little bits of chorizo.

You can serve as is, but if you want it pureed, pour it in a blender or put an immersion blender to it when the soup has cooled down a bit.