- Hey guys, today I'm gonna show you a fantastic
soup and sandwich combination for the fall.
It's my white bean soup with sausage and kale
combined with a Parmesan-encrusted grilled cheese sandwich.
It is such a comfort food classic that is perfect
for a night when you just want to stay indoors and be cozy.
So let me show you how to make this meal
if you wanted to save the most amount of time,
especially if you were hosting a group of friends
to put this together.
So in a large dutch oven, you wanna combine
two tablespoons of olive oil, one and a half cups
of diced yellow onion, and a half a cup of celery.
You can season to taste with salt and pepper
and then cook your vegetables until they start
to become tender and fragrant.
At this point, we're going to add our beans.
So I'm using cannellini beans but sometimes
you'll also see them labeled as just white beans.
You wanna make sure that you take them
out of the can and give them a good rinse.
So you don't wanna dump them in straight from the can.
And then to that we're gonna add four cups of chicken broth.
Now, this is another thing that I've learned
over the years when it comes to chicken broth.
I find that the ones that are not low sodium
have the best flavor.
So unless you're dealing with sort of health considerations
I would always take just the full chicken broth.
Don't go for the low sodium.
And then you also wanna add five sprigs of fresh rosemary.
And you can just pop them in the pot.
Then we're gonna place the lid on the pot
and we're going to let this simmer for 10 minutes.
And as that simmers, the beans are gonna soften
and the broth is going to get infused
with that beautiful rosemary.
And that will just end up becoming a really nice
undertone of flavor once our soup is pureed.
Then after the 10 minutes is up, you can transfer
this soup into a blender.
And puree it until it's nice and smooth.
Then put it back into your cleaned-out stockpot.
And taste it.
And then if you feel it needs a little more salt
and pepper, go ahead and season.
Now, if you're party planning what I would do
is at this stage, let the soup cool down completely,
place the lid on the pot, and place the pot
in your refrigerator until you're ready to serve.
Then when it comes time to serve your meal,
this is what I would do.
I would prepare the grilled cheese sandwiches first
because you can keep them warm in a very low
250-degree oven.
We are going to be working with sourdough bread.
I think that's really a great bread to use
for a grilled cheese sandwich because it's light
but crunchy at the same time.
And then we're gonna brush one side
with some melted butter.
And then here comes the really decadent
and delicious part.
We're going to take some grated, freshly grated,
Parmesan cheese, and we're going to place it
on the buttered side of the bread.
And you can press it in with your fingertips,
just making sure it adheres.
Then you wanna use a non-stick griddle or pan.
The non-stick is really key because that Parmesan
will stick if you've used stainless steel.
And then I like to use a more mild-flavored cheese
on the inside.
So you've got that really strong Parmesan flavor
on the outside and then something soft
and some gooey on the inside.
It's a great combination that doesn't fight each other.
So I like to use either a provolone or a mozzarella
would also be great.
Then we're gonna grill the sandwiches on each side
until the cheese is melted and you start to get
really nice color on the outside.
And you'll see the Parmesan will kind of get crispy
and encrusted into the bread.
And it just makes for such a great crunch once it's done.
And then keep them warm in a 250-degree oven.
Then, to prep the soup you're gonna go get your stockpot
out of the fridge, place that on a very low simmer,
just to bring it up to temperature.
And at this stage it might've thickened
while it sat in the fridge.
You can just thin that with a little bit
more chicken broth or some water.
Then you can add a little bit of olive oil in the pan.
And while that's heating up, we are going
to remove the sausage from its casing.
So I'm just working with sweet Italian sausage.
If you wanted to give your soup a little bit
of a kick, you could use the hot Italian sausage.
That would also be good.
And then you wanna just kinda break it off
into big chunks and place it in the skillet.
And it'll start to brown on all sides.
And while that's happening, you can go in
with a wooden spoon and just cut maybe the chunks in half.
You're basically looking for little bite-sized pieces.
So you don't want them too big that when people
bite into it, it's too hot 'cause you've got this soup
and it becomes really messy.
You want it to be easy for your guests to eat.
Then once it's fully cooked through, you can transfer
the sausage with a slotted spoon onto a plate
lined with paper towel, just to drain
any of the grease off it.
And then you can also prepare two leaves of kale.
So the kale just needs to be stripped from the spine
because you don't wanna throw that part in.
It's really kind of tough and hard to eat.
And once you do that, you can give it a rough chop.
Then you can place the sausage in the soup
as well as the kale.
And now your soup is ready to go.
Then you can remove the sandwiches from the oven.
And I like to cut them on the diagonal,
which I think looks really pretty.
So then what I like to do is either bring
the soup pot to the table and let everybody
serve themselves, sort of a fun family style,
and then load up the sandwiches on a big platter.
And you can even top it with just a little bit
more Parmesan cheese and some fresh parsley.
Now, if you would like another delicious
and comforting soup to make this time of year,
click this annotation and I'll show you how to make
a classic French onion soup.
See you over there.