sausage soup with an egg

David Tanis wrote a story in his great City Kitchen column in the New York Times about Provencal soup with an egg. I’ve made it many times since and it’s just brilliant: garlicky broth + toast + an egg . It made me realize that by adding an egg to almost any soup, you can make it into a meal. So I did that with my favorite concoction of sausage, greens and beans.

ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Italian sausages (hot, mild, or 1 each)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
kosher salt
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes
4 large Swiss chard or kale leaves, rinsed
1 small can (about 8 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
thickly sliced bread, toasted

directions

Heat the oil in a medium soup pot or a large saucepan. Split the sausages lengthwise then turn out the meat into the hot oil. With a spatula, flatten the sausage meat on the bottom of the pot to brown it slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Scatter the onion and carrot over the sausage and sprinkle with a pinch of salt then stir and break up sausage with the spatula until meat is browned and vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Pour in broth and tomatoes. While that comes to a boil, strip the leaves off the chard or kale stems (save chard stems for another use), tearing into pieces as you work and dropping into the soup pot. When all the greens have been added, put beans in pot. Let the soup come to a boil, then cover and simmer until greens are tender, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. (Can be made ahead and refrigerated, covered, up to 3 days.)

In another pan, poach the eggs: bring a pot of water to boil with a splash of vinegar (any kind) and a pinch of salt, then reduce heat just to a bare simmer. Crack one egg at a time into a ramekin or custard cup and while swirling the water in the pot gently with a spoon in one hand, tip the egg into the pan with the other hand (moving water helps reduce feathering of egg whites). Repeat with remaining eggs. Cook for 2 minutes for a softly set egg. Remove each egg with a slotted spoon to paper towels until ready to put them on the soup.

Ladle hot soup into shallow bowls, top each serving with an egg and serve toasted bread on the side.