On Christmas Eve, I’ll be singing at an evening service at our church so I’ll need something already made to serve for dinner when we get home. This recipe for Turkey Rice Soup with Sausage will make a perfect Christmas Eve meal! I’ll make it a day ahead (minus the rice), bring it to a simmer when we get home from church on Christmas Eve, add the rice, let it cook until tender and serve. 

If you like Cajun gumbos and jambalayas, you’re going to love this soup! While not as rich-tasting as a traditional, more labor-intensive gumbo, this hearty soup delivers good gumbo-like flavor without some of the fuss (like making a roux, a cooked flour and fat mixture that thickens soups, sauces and gravies). The recipe calls for andouille sausage (prounounced  ahn-DWEE), a spicy smoked sausage used in Cajun cooking. Enjoy!

Serving Note: this soup is best served as soon as the rice is tender. As the soup sits, the rice soaks up the broth and becomes more like a jambalaya than a soup.

Turkey Rice Soup with Sausage
-Recipe from FoodandWine.com

Make this super-quick gumbo when you crave the hearty flavors of the Cajun classic but don’t have time to make the roux. Makes 6 servings.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
3 medium celery ribs, coarsely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup long-grain rice (about 4 1/2 ounces)
2 bay leaves
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt
4 cups Turkey Stock (recipe below) or chicken broth
One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with their juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/2 -inch slices
2 cups diced cooked turkey (about 1/2 pound)

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, pepper, celery and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add the rice, bay leaves, thyme, crushed red pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt and stir to coat the rice with the oil. Add the Turkey Stock, tomatoes and tomato paste, breaking up the tomatoes against the side of the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over moderately low heat until the rice is almost tender, about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet. Add the andouille and cook over high heat until browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Add the sausage and turkey and cook until the turkey is heated through and the rice is tender. Discard the bay leaves and season with salt. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Turkey Stock
-recipe from FoodandWine.com

Makes about 3 quarts.

Carcass from a large turkey, cut or broken into 4-inch pieces
4 quarts water
3 carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 celery ribs, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 medium onions, quartered
4 unpeeled garlic cloves
5 thyme sprigs
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
2 bay leaves, broken

Put the turkey bones in a large stockpot, cover with the water and bring to a boil, skimming occasionally. Add the vegetables and herbs and cook over low heat, partially covered, for 2 hours. Strain the stock, pressing down on the solids. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.Skim off the fat from the surface before using.

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Tags: Cajun, gumbo, sausage, soup, Turkey Rice Soup with Sausage

This is a wonderful soup – a rich and savory combination of butternut squash, nutty wild rice and smokey sausage. I made the soup the day before serving it, which worked perfectly. Instead of the roasting method that the recipe calls for (peeling the squash, cubing it then roasting it), I split the squash, scooped out the seeds, drizzled it with a bit of olive oil and roasted the halved squash (much quicker than peeling and cubing). After the roasted squash was cool enough to handle, I scooped out the cooked flesh and discarded the peel. I then proceeded with the recipe as written, making the butternut puree, cooking the wild rice, and browning the sausage. Next, I combined the butternut puree, additional broth, corn and sausage together and refrigerated the soup; I stored the wild rice in a separate container. When I reheated the soup the next evening, I waited until the soup was fully heated through before adding the cooked wild rice and half & half. I cut down on the half & half (using less than 1 cup) but made up for it with a bit more chicken stock. Also, instead of 2 cups of fresh corn kernels, I used a whole bag of Trader Joe’s white frozen corn. For the sausage, I used a high quality smoked sausage from a local gourmet market. The butternut squash I used was a three-pounder; next time I’ll use one that’s at least 4 pounds for a more intense squash flavor. The soup was delicious, hearty and festive…a perfect soup for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Smoked Sausage, Butternut Squash and Wild Rice Soup
- recipe by Emeril Lagasse – foodnetwork.com

Makes 10 servings 

2 medium butternut squash, about 3 to 4 pounds, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
12 cups chicken stock
2 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup wild rice
3/4 pound smoked sausage, such as kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Season the squash with 1 tablespoon of the oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until tender. Remove from the oven and cool completely. In a blender or food processor, puree the squash with 2 cups of the chicken stock. Puree until smooth and set aside.

In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring 4 cups of the stock and 1/2 cup of the chopped onions to a simmer. Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 1 hour, stirring occasionally with a fork. Remove the rice from the pan and cool. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add the remaining tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the sausage and brown for 3 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cups of onions and corn. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the remaining 6 cups of stock and squash puree. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface. Stir in the rice and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the half-and-half and reason with salt and pepper. Stir in the parsley and serve.

Tags: butternut squash, corn, sausage, Soup/Stew

The Pacific Northwest was visited this week by a pre-Christmas snow and ice storm. Basically, daily life as we know it has ceased and people just stay home where it’s safe and warm. Schools shut down and some businesses close until the weather warms up and the ice melts off. Husband grew up in a rural town that got a lot of winter snow so he knows how to drive in the snow and ice. Most of us in this area, however, don’t. I’m sure it’s entertaining for anyone from a part of the country where the winters are really brutal. 

Yesterday was our third day into the “stay-at-home-because-there’s-ice-and-snow-outside” weather and I had to make due with what I had in the fridge and pantry. I wanted to cook a pot of warm, hearty soup but most of the recipes I looked at called for ingredients that I didn’t have. Fortunately, I ran across a recipe in my “SOUP” file for Split Pea Soup with Sausage and Potato. Since I had all the ingredients, I immediately went to work chopping and dicing. The only ingredient I had to step outside for was the fresh rosemary. I have a big rosemary bush planted in the backyard but I didn’t feel like tracking through the snowy grass to get to it. I decided to pluck a few branches off the little rosemary Christmas tree that I had potted at the front door instead. I didn’t realize, however, how icy it was outside and had to catch myself from falling when I took my first step onto the front door mat. Fortunately, I caught myself and was able to gingerly step across the icy walkway to the icicle-covered rosemary plant. I’m not sure if the rosemary plant will recover from the icy weather but at least it survived long enough to season my delicious split pea soup.

I followed the recipe as written except I used a German smoked sausage instead of the spicy sausage, and added a stalk of chopped celery and one chopped carrot to the sauteeing vegetables. The soup was the perfect compliment to a snowy stay-inside day.

Split Pea Soup with Sausage and Potato
- recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine

Makes 4 to 6 servings

5 fully cooked spicy smoked sausage links (such as andouille or hot links), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 12-ounce russet potato, peeled, diced
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/4 cups green split peas, rinsed
4 cups low-salt chicken broth

Sauté sausages in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until fat begins to render, about 4 minutes. Add potato, onion, and rosemary. Sauté until onion is soften, about 5 minutes. Mix in split peas, then broth. Bring soup to simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until peas are tender, stirring occasionally, about 50 minutes. If desired, thin soup with water by 1/4 cupfuls. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Market Tip:
For a less spicy (read: more kid-friendly) sausage, choose Kielbasa or garlic sausages.

Tags: sausage, Soup/Stew, split peas