Escarole Soup and Sausage and Rice

This short and savory escarole soup is made with sausage and rice. It makes a comforting meal when you serve with crusty bread.

One of our favorite ingredients in making soup has to be escarole. We love the leafy lettuce-like texture that is so tender and sweet once cooked.

We love making Escarole Soup with Sausage and Rice. It is rather short and unfussy to make and comforting to enjoy in cool weather. The soup fills us up and we feel good afterward. We used Chorizo sausage but any Italian style sausage would be fine.

You can easily omit the rice if you would rather keep this soup on the lighter side, or as a “make ahead” type soup. (Rice will soak up the liquid in the soup quickly, so it will get soggy if you let it sit too long)

Our daughter was not feeling well and we made this soup for her as a lunch. You know when you are sick, you just want something unfussy and soothing. She loved this soup and it made her feel a little better.

How the dish comes together

Wash the rice to remove the starch coating and drain.

Chop the onion, celery, and garlic.

Remove the casing from the sausage and brown them. Remove from the pot.

Saute the onion, celery and garlic until soft.

Now, add the escarole and saute until the escarole wilts, then return the sausage and the rice. Toss well.

Pour the chicken stock so that it just barely covers all the ingredients. We like to drop a small piece of Parmesan cheese rind. Let this boil first, then simmer over low heat until the rice is tender.

We love all the flavor melted in the soup. We can’t say a lot about this soup except it is just lovely!

Our girl thoroughly finished her bowl and went back to bed. So did I.

• Yield: 4 people
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 25 minutes
• Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 head escarole, cleaned and chopped
• 3-4 links Italian sausage, casing removed
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white rice, rinsed and drained
• 7-8 cup low sodium chicken stock
• 1-inch piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional
• salt and pepper, to the taste
• shredded Parmesan cheese, to garnish

Method

1. In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and brown them as you crumble into small pieces. Remove the sausage from the pot and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil in a pot, saute onion, celery and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the escarole and saute until it wilts. Add the sausage and the rice, and saute to combine.
3. Pour the chicken stock just to cover the ingredients in the pot. Add the Parmesan cheese rind if using. Bring it to boil first then reduce the heat to low,and simmer over low heat until the rice is tender. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.
4. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.