Sausage, white bean and kale soup - parmigiano rind not optional!

On my last grocery shopping trip I bought a big bunch of kale with the intention of using most of it in a sausage, white bean and kale soup, many variations of which I have seen floating around food blogland for some time now. The recipe I used was from Closet Cooking, chosen partly because I love the blog and partly because I was intrigued by the addition of a parmigiano reggiano rind. I was definitely not disappointed - this soup is crammed with so much good stuff, and the parmesan rind added incredible flavour. After the soup was finished cooking I broke the rind up into smaller pieces and left it in the soup rather than discarding it - it's delicious, and the hunk of cheese cost me upwards of 10 dollars so no way was I going to throw any part of it out!

This soup fits the veggie packed bill that I have been trying to stick to lately, in addition to trying to do a true 30 Day Shred (as in, do the workout every day for 30 days). Not sure if the Shred will happen tonight - with Christmas decorating and making this soup, the day got away from me pretty quickly - but if it doesn't, I can feel satisfied that my dinner was on track!

Sausage, White Bean and Kale Soup (adapted from Closet Cooking)

4 turkey sausages, casing removed
2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Crushed tomatoes (I used a mason jar full made by my BF's mom, probably less than a 28 0z can)
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch kale, chopped (unless you have a monster bunch like I did - the whole bunch was too much for the soup pot, I had to scoop some of it out!)
1 tsp. dried sage
1 parmigiano reggiano rind
1L container chicken stock, plus two cups water (the 1L container was not enough to cover all the soup ingredients. I used a low sodium broth - if this is not available to you, I recommend using half broth and half water - the soup is very flavourful on its own, it doesn't need a ton of salt)

Brown the sausage in a large pot and set aside. In the same pot, heat the oil and saute the onions for about 7-8 min. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour (I caved at 45 minutes because I was hungry, but my carrots were still a bit crunchy).