Kielbasa, Kale, Leek and Potato Soup

The October garden is still giving me fresh vegetables for dinner. It's wonderful to cut deep green leaves of kale this late in the season, and pull up the leeks, which took longer than anything else in the garden to come to maturity. There's also sage and rosemary. I went looking for a soup that would use all three, and though I didn't quite find it, I found two others (one for kale and beans and one for kale and potatoes) and made this hybrid that was just delicious.

Kale, Leek and Potato Soup

1 ring of kielbasa
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
4 small-medium carrots, cut in small rounds
vegetable oil
2 potatoes diced or thinly sliced
5 cups chopped kale
4 small leeks, cut into rounds, white and light green parts only
1 quart chicken broth
1 cup white wine
water as needed
2 tsp chopped rosemary
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Cut the kielbasa in rounds and saute it in a frying pan, about 3 minutes each side. Drain grease (1tsp or so) into a soup pot, add vegetable oil and sautee the onion, garlic and carrots until onions are soft and translucent. Add chicken broth, white wine, rosemary, bay leaf and potatoes, bring to a boil and then simmer 10 minutes until potatoes are soft. Using an immersion blender, puree some of the soup for a creamier broth. Add kielbasa, kale and leeks and cook 5-10 minutes until kale is cooked through. Add more water or chicken broth as needed with the kale, kielbasa and leeks to make a real soup.

I think it would be nice to finish with an immersion blender, but you really only want to puree the potatoes and maybe the greens, not the kielbasa! When I made it, I skipped the blending and had a good, brothy soup (the white wine really helps). Next time I'll use the immersion blender before adding the final ingredients to produce a little creamier soup, though this isn't necessary.