Chunky Potato Soup with Sausage

This a twist on your traditional Potato soup: Traditional Cream of Potato soup is is great but I thought it needed something more, a kick.

Chunky Potato Soup with Sausage

Ingredients
8 links of Andouille sausage, 1/4 inch slices that have been quartered
6 cups of water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 table spoons unsalted butter
8 medium potatoes pealed and cubed
8 small red potatoes, cubed
2 medium tomatoes, quartered and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 leaks, cleaned and diced, just the bottom to the light green part
4 sprigs of fresh Thyme, leaves removed from the stems
2 fresh bay leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
8 cloves of garlic, 6 minced and 2 sliced and placed in a tea ball
1 cup of half and half
1/2 cup Italian Parsley, chopped stems removed
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Place the red potatoes, olive oil and minced garlic in a bowl and toss to coat. Dump on to a cookie sheet and place in the oven and roasted for about an hour, you want them nice a crispy. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a large soup pot over medium high heat place the sausage and brown for about 5 minutes. Remove them from the pot; now add butter. Once the butter has melted add the onions, celery, leaks and red peppers and cook until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Now add the thyme, bay leaves, mustard and cumin seeds, salt and pepper, toss to coat. Next add the pealed, cubed potatoes and the water. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes or until potatoes are soft. 10 minuets prior to potatoes at their desired softness, add the tomatoes. Once potatoes are soft, add half and half, stir to combine, remove the pot from heat. Remove bay leaves and puree all the soup and return to the pot. Now add the sausage, the roasted potatoes, and the tea ball with the garlic. Note: use tongs to remove the roasted potatoes from their pan, do not dumb the potatoes from their roasting pan into the soup pot; you do not want the oil from the pan to go into the soup. Simmer over very low heat, covered for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times during the process. Then remove tea ball. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with the parsley, serve with a baguette and a nice cheese.

There were a few steps to this soup but it is so worth it.

Enjoy Cooking