Winter Vegetable and Sausage Soup

As we settle into the dark days of winter one of my favorite meals to make is soup. This winter vegetable and sausage soup is a comforting, one-pot meal that’s perfect for those dark and cold winter evenings. Full of flavorful Italian sausage, tender root vegetables, and dried herbs this soup is nourishing and delicious.

One thing I am trying to get better at is eating seasonal vegetables. Because we can get almost any vegetable we want at the grocery store, regardless of the season, it makes it really easy to not eat seasonally. One benefit of eating seasonally, among many, is during the shorter, darker, cold day of winter our bodies are better supported by these cooked winter vegetables.

What are winter vegetables?

Here is a list of winter vegetables:

While winter squash is harvested later in the fall they store well through the winter so are considered a winter vegetable. They include:

• Acorn squash
• Delicata squash
• Kabocha
• Butternut squash
• Spaghetti squash

These root vegetables store well and are wonderful roasted or cooked in soup. They include:

• Carrots
• Turnips
• Parsnips
• Rutabagas
• Radishes
• Beets

These brassicas (cabbage family) do well in cold temps and are sweeter after hit by frost. They include:

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Brussels sprouts
• Kale
• Collards greens
• Cauliflower

These alliums create delicious depth flavor to any soup! They include:

• Garlic
• Onions
• Shallots
• Leeks

Other cold-hardy vegetables would include:

• Fennel
• Endive
• Celery root
• Spinach
• Swiss chard

Tubers that store well in winter are:

• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes

What winter vegetables did I use in this soup?

• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Leeks
• Shallots

Ingredients you will need to make this winter vegetable and sausage soup:

• 1 lb Bulk Italian Sausage
• 3 Shallots, minced, you can also use onions if you can’t find shallots
• 2 Leeks green tops removed, cut in half and diced
• 1 Carrot, finely diced
• 1 Parsnip, finely diced
• 2 tsp Herbs de Provence
• 6 cups Chicken Broth, when I don’t have homemade chicken broth I like to use Better than Bullion chicken base
• 1/4 cup White Wine, for deglazing the pan (optional)
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

• 1.) Start by browning the sausage in a large dutch oven.
• 2.) While the sausage is browning prepare your vegetables making sure they are all finely diced to the same size.
• 3.) Once the sausage is browned remove from the dutch oven with a slotted spoon on to a paper plate or paper towel lined plate leaving at least 2 tbls of rendered fat from the sausage in the dutch oven.
• 4.) Deglaze the bottom of the pan with the white wine if you are using it. Let this cook for 3-5 minutes, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan.
• 5.) Add the diced vegetables and saute for 7-10 minutes until the vegetables are starting to get translucent.
• 6.) Add the sausage back to the dutch oven and add the chicken broth and herbs de provence. Bring to a low simmer. Taste to check if it needs salt. Add the salt and pepper to taste at this point.
• 7.) Let simmer on low for about 15 minutes until the carrots and parsnips are tender.
• 8.) Serve with some hearty bread and enjoy!

Notes:

• Feel free to add a couple cloves of minced garlic if you’d like.
• You can also use onions in place of the shallots if you can’t find shallots. The shallots have a much more delicate onion flavor which I love in this soup.
• Make sure to finely dice the vegetables all the same size for even cooking time.
• If you don’t have white wine or prefer not to use it then you can use 1/4 cup of the chicken broth to deglaze the pan.
• Because the sausage and chicken broth or base already have salt make sure to taste the soup first before adding anymore salt.

Storing and freezing:

For leftover soup store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Make sure to heat the leftovers back to a low simmer before serving.

This soup freezes great. To freeze let it cool to room temperature. Pour the soup in a large ziploc freezer bag. I like to lay it flat on a cookie sheet and place this in the freezer until frozen. It makes storing the bag of soup in the freezer so much easier and also makes it so the soup thaws quickly.

Pair this soup with my hearty whole wheat sourdough bread or my honey wheat dinner rolls.

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