White Bean, Sausage and Collard Greens Soup

1/4 C. olive oil
1/2 C. diced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 Pound Sweet Italian Sausage ( I used the turkey variety)
1 t. red chile flakes
10 C. low sodium chicken broth
1 C. dry navy beans
1 Bay leaf
1 15 oz. can white canellini beans
2 C. collard greens, chopped small (or kale or spinach)
Pecorini Romano cheese, shaved


Use large soup pot and heat olive oil. Add diced onion and garlic and pinch of salt.  Cook til onions and garlic are soft, about 3 min.  


Peel the sausage, discard the casings. Break up the sausage as you put it in the pot.  Crumbled is good. Brown the sausage til cooked through.  Add the chile flakes. 


Add the chicken broth, and dried navy beans, with Bay leaf.  Bring to boil and then cook on medium for 1-2 hours till navy beans are almost done.  Add the cannelini beans and cook another 30 minutes. Test all the beans and make sure they are cooked through. Mine took a bit longer.  After the beans are done, throw in the collard greens with a little salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for 10 minutes til they wilt.  (the recipe called for 8 C. of the greens but that was way too much for us.  The kids were not thrilled with the greens but I thought they had a good taste and texture mixed in!)


Serve with grated Pecorini Romano cheese on top.


Serves 8. 

Crusty Italian Bread

1 pkg (2 1/2 t. Yeast)
1-1/4 C. warm water
3 C. bread flour
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 T. olive oil
Cornmeal for dusting


Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 C. warm water. Set aside.  After it bubbles up, add it to the bowl with the remaining 1 C. warm water.  Stir. Add the flour, sugar, and stir.  I used my kitchenaid and dough hook and mixed slightly. THEN add the oil. If you add the oil too early, it binds with the flour and won't let the gluten form right.  Turn dough out onto floured counter.  Knead and stretch it for quite awhile til it gets smooth and elastic.


Place dough in an oiled bowl. Toss the dough around to get it oiled well.  Cover with plastic wrap, pressed all the way onto the dough.


Let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours til double in bulk.


Tun dough out onto counter and smash down to get air out. Shape into two loaves or one large loaf if you have a big pan to put it on.  I used my round stone. Cover pan with cornmeal first so it won't stick.  Cover loaves with plastic wrap sprayed with oil and let rise another 40 minutes.


Cut each loaf down the middle with a sharp knife. This will prevent the dough from splitting when it rises and bakes in the oven.


Bake in preheated 425 oven for 10 minutes. Then turn down oven to 400 and bake 20 more minutes.  Place a pan of water in the bottom rack of the oven to make a steam oven.  It will help make the crust crisp and allow the bread to rise more.

Roasted Jalapeno Salsa

1 big can 32 oz. whole peeled tomatoes
2-3 jalapeños
Handful of cilantro to taste
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp salt

Here is the work. Roast the jalapeños. I have a flat top range so roasting them over the flame wasn't an option. I did it in a cast iron skillet on high heat. Just roll them over and over til they turn charred black on all sides. This took about ten minutes. Then put them in a sealed bowl for 10 minutes til cooled. Then they are easy to peel the skins off.

Chop the roasted peppers, throw with the other ingredients in the blender. Mix til puréed. Add more salt as needed. I had to do a half batch without cilantro for Jeff. It has a yummy taste! Ours was hot, you might start with 1 pepper, then taste and add more if you want hotter. The extra roasted peppers can be frozen.