This Italian Sausage, White Bean & Escarole soup is rich with sausage, fennel, garlic, and parmesan. While it’s a streamlined, quick cooking soup, it beckons us to slow down.
Hello my dears,
It was so wonderful to hear from so many of you about my video last week! It’s always a bit scary to do video, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have another one for you today (which also includes a step-by-step video of how to make the recipe) all about the power of slowing down in the kitchen, not so much physically—although that’s helpful too—but mentally.
As I discuss in the video, we can do this in the kitchen, but we can also slow down in our broader lives. We’re officially in fall, where nights stretch longer than days, and while it’s a season of productivity (think harvest time), there’s also a pull towards quiet—a turning in. I’ve found myself wondering why I’m suddenly so much more tired at night, but in fact it’s completely normal (especially with the eclipse this week!). Our bodies—these ever-changing animal skins—follow the cycles of the seasons just like the deer, birds, and bears do in the forest behind my house.
Slowing down doesn’t mean we need to change our days or cancel our obligations (although, like the trees, it’s a beautiful time to shed what’s no longer needed and let go of what’s serving as a distraction). We can bring quiet into our days, amongst our jobs and schedules and deadlines and commitments.
I’ve found that when I set an intention to slow down, no matter what I’m doing—cooking, answering emails, packing my kid’s school lunch, typing this newsletter—I move more deliberately. Holding the intention to “slow down, sweetheart” doesn’t mean that I move any slower (although sometimes I do). Instead, it means that I pull my focus away from the chatter of my mind—to that incessant whirl of thoughts that pulls me in a million directions—to that quiet space within me. In order to go there, I have to connect with my body. Here I am, this organism in animal skin. I take a deep breath to calm my nervous system, feeling my solid two feet on the floor. Bit by bit I’m able to go inward, to that serene space that’s always available to me, if I slow down enough to drop in (even while cooking, or cleaning, or working).
As we slow down, calming the chatter of the mind, we become present and available for what’s showing up in our lives right now. As we cook, we can actually hear the staccato splatter of oil if the heat is too high, or smell the garlic before it starts to burn instead of being lost in our thoughts. We can respond to life instead of being in constant reactive mode. We can live more deliberately, intentionally, and consciously.
My invitation for you this week, if it feels good, is to slow down, even while doing all the things you need to do. Keep coming back to the intention (slow down, sweetheart!) and drop into the quiet of your body. You can do this physically if that feels good, or it can be a simple mental switch. Slow down while you make your morning cup of coffee, slow down while you brush your teeth, slow down while you’re rushing out the door to work, slow down while you cook dinner (even if—or perhaps especially if—you’re feeling the pressure from kids, life, etc), slow down while you eat… Move a bit more deliberately, and see what happens.
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The recipe
This Italian Sausage, White Bean & Escarole Soup can be a wonderful place to start. While it’s a great recipe to practice slowing down in order to tune in, it’s also a quick and easy meal.
I first developed the recipe on a 95-degree day in August as a way to use up a big head of escarole from our CSA box (we just got another huge head this week… what timing!!). We slurped the soup out on our back deck with thick wedges of cornbread for dunking, and my kids scraped out the pot (this says a lot for two girls who are usually suspicious of green things).
It’s delicious meal year-round, but I think it’s best right now as the weather starts to chill and darkness creeps in. It’s light and nourishing yet rich in flavor due to a few powerhouse ingredients. Speaking of which, I streamlined the ingredients and steps to maximize flavor with minimal work, which I hope will allow you to slow down, enjoying the process.
Recipe notes:
You can use either Italian chicken or pork sausage (mild or spicy). Be sure to use fresh, not cured sausage, and to remove it from the casing before using.
A parmesan rind gives the broth an umami flavor, while dried Italian seasonings provide a punch of flavor with minimal effort.
The soup is made with fennel, which lends mild sweetness, but you can swap it out for a diced onion if you’d prefer.
Escarole is a leafy green vegetable that looks like a giant head of lettuce (it’s in the same family as endive). It’s a bit tough raw, but when cooked it turns silky, with a mild flavor (which my kids can attest to). If you can’t find it, you could use curly kale or spinach instead.
If you’re sensitive to garlic, cook a few crushed cloves in the olive oil before and while you cook the fennel (this will impart garlic flavor while being gentle on the stomach). Remove the cloves before adding the Italian seasonings and sausage.
The soup is delicious with buttered bread or grilled cheese, but we especially love it with this cornbread for dunking.
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