Sausage and Roast Chicken Soup
1 large white or yellow onion, diced.
4 large carrots, sliced.
4-5 ribs of celery with leaves, diced.
1 pound (4-5 medium potatoes) of potatoes (any kind), peeled, diced.
3 cloves of garlic, minced.
4 quarts of Chicken Stock
1 whole chicken, spatchcocked. (or 3 large chicken breasts, boneless, skin on.)
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground sausage
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 Bunch kale, de-stemmed, chopped
1 cup of heavy cream
Salt, Pepper, Italian Seasoning
Combine ground beef, sausage in a large bowl, season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Mix thoroughly until there are no distinguishable variations in types of meat. Using approximately 1 ½ TBS of meat mixture at a time, roll between palms of hands until meatball is formed. Set aside.
Coat chicken in a small portion of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, rub all over. Place whole or pieces of chicken on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast in 400 degree oven until done. (Approximately 30 minutes for breast pieces, or 1 hour for a whole chicken, stopping to baste chicken with its own juices half-way through.) When chicken is done – allow to cool, and then slice chicken breasts, or pull chicken off the bone in large sections, and slice. Set Aside.
In a large soup pot or heavy bottomed dutch oven:
On medium high, working in batches, brown the sausage meat balls on all sides, being careful not to overcrowd the pot so that steam can escape to ensure proper browning. Set all meatballs aside when finished.
To the rendered fat in the bottom of pot, add your onion, celery, and carrot. Sautee together until moisture starts to release, and they become fragrant. Add minced garlic, and cook for a few minutes until very fragrant, careful to avoid burning. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add 1 cup of chicken stock and scrape the bottom of pot to de-glaze, and release all the good built up flavor on the bottom of the pot. Once that’s done, add the rest of the chicken stock, and bring to a boil.
Reduce to heavy simmer, and add potatoes, and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Add can of stewed tomatoes, by pouring slowly into your hand first, squeezing the tomatoes to gently crush and break them up as they go into the pot. Add the chopped kale, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
Finally, return the meatballs to the pot, add your sliced chicken, and simmer for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Taste your broth for your desired salt and seasoning levels at this point. Add to it if necessary (I like to wait until this point because we have seasoned our meat balls and our chicken. We can always add salt, but we can’t take away).
Pour in 1 cup of heavy cream and serve.
