The stuff dreams are made of

How could anything be bad with half a bottle of wine in it? Or with turkey sausage and Chicken Tortellini?

Adam loves this Tuscan Ravioli Soup. He told me it was, "the stuff dreams are made of." Can a soup get any better a compliment than that? This soup, along with one other, Pureed Lentil Soup, are probably his two favorite soups that i've made... and i've made a lot of soups. (One of these days i'll get around to posting the lentil soup because that one is also soo good)

This soup is heart warming, smells delicious and really hits the spot on those chilly fall and winter nights. It has a ton of rosemary and garlic in it so of course if anyone walks anywhere near the kitchen they'll be asking what smells so good. (and don't you just love hearing that?)

The main veggie in it is Kale, arguably one of the healthiest vegetables there is. It's great in soups as it holds up to heat without wilting away as much as spinach or swiss chard does. Or it's great simply prepared sauteed with some olive oil and garlic, like this as a side dish. One of it's other bountiful benefits is that it's super cheap. A huge bundle of it that barely fits into those plastic produce bags was only 79 cents. It take a little time to prep it, as you can see here, but it is well worth the couple extra minutes.

I've made this recipe a few times with a couple variations. One of the best alterations was when my Mom made it and added italian style turkey sausage to it. That seemed to be the tipping point that brought it to a new level from the additional spices and flavors that it added. When cooking turkey sausage i usually remove the casings before cooking it. I find that the flavors spread out more through the dish and allows you to either treat it more like ground meat if you wanted to or cut into pieces and cook normally. This time the only kind i saw in the store was the hot version of it (instead of sweet), which ended up being not as hot as i worried it might be, but gave a subtle crushed red pepper kind of heat to the soup.

The other addition is adding wine. I like that the recipe keeps the sodium level lower by only using 2 cans of beef broth plus one can of water. But i find that despite all the rosemary, garlic, and bay leaves that the broth still tastes a little thin for some reason. So i usually add a cup or two of whatever wine i have on hand. The first couple times it was red, this past time it was white. If using red wine, one cup is probably fine. When using white this time i kept adding more of it in. Once that's added and you give it time to simmer and reduce slightly, the real depth of flavor seems to come out.

I keep calling this a soup, but it's really a stew. A hearty stew. There's so much in this yet it still remains fairly economical. I didnt have any of the ingredients on hand and it cost about $14 for 4-5 servings. Unless you have a massive soup pot, i wouldnt try doubling the recipe until you know that your cooking vessel can hold all of it.

So here it is:

Tuscan Ravioli Stew

1 bunch of Kale

6 large cloves of garlic

1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 Bay leaves
2 tbs of fresh rosemary or 2-3 tsp. of dried

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cans of beef broth
1 1/2 cups water

1 cup red wine (or white, and add more if you'd like)

2 (14 oz) can of stewed tomatoes
1 9 oz refrigerator package of fresh Chicken Ravioli (i often use chicken tortellini as well)

1 package of turkey sausage

Garlic salt to taste
Shredded fontina cheese (or parmesan, or Romano)

(feeds 4 with some leftovers)

Slice garlic thinly (all six cloves). Coarsely chop Kale into about 1 inch pieces. Slice onion thinly.

Heat olive oil in a large soup pan. Cook turkey sausage and then add garlic, sautéing garlic for a minute. Add onion and kale and sauté another 5 minutes, stirring often. Add crushed Rosemary and stir - heat one minute.

Add Beef Broth, water, Bay leaves, wine, and stewed tomatoes, including all liquid. Heat to boiling and let simmer on low for 10 minutes with lid on.

Add chicken Ravioli and stir. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until Ravioli is tender, about 10 to 12 minutes. After about 6 minutes taste broth and add garlic salt & salt to taste.

Serve in bowls, top with shredded cheese and accompanied by chunks of a good Artisan Bread of your choice.