A big bowl of this Chicken, Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup is like wrapping a fleecy blanket around you and curling up on the sofa with a good book. Warm, comforting and oh so delicious!
If your sausages have a casing on them carefully cut the casing from the sausages and squeeze out bite sized pieces of the sausage mince. If there is no casing chop the sausage into small chunks. Set aside until needed.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based pan. Then cook the onions over a medium heat until they are translucent and soft. (about 8-10 minutes)
Add the sausage chunks and cook them until golden brown.
Pour in the chicken stock, ground fennel, ground sage, salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through.
Remove the stalks from the kale and roughly chop the leaves. Add the kale and the milk to the soup and stir well.
Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the soup. Cook everything for 5 minutes until warmed through.
Mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of water. Then slowly stir it into the soup and cook for a further minute to thicken.
Season to taste and serve hot.
Notes
Pick a breakfast or country style sausage. Avoid smoked chicken sausages as they will change the flavor of the soup and add too much salt. Any of the following work well: